MONTHEY, Switzerland – Auburn's second game of their trip to Europe saw an early offensive outburst and a strong rebounding performance turn into a runaway victory as the Tigers defeated the Swiss All-Stars 103-68 Saturday night.
Five players scored in double-figures, and all players dressed scored at least one point as the Tigers shook off a tough shooting night in Paris three days ago.
"We hit shots that we missed the other night," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "The other night, we got good shots, we just didn't make them. I thought our chemistry was good. We didn't force it as much. I thought our kids played together really well. They moved the ball well, shared the ball, and took shots at the right time.
"But it all started on defense. I thought on defense we got into them really good, really early, and that dictated the entire game. That's exactly what I want to see."
Auburn turned 38 Swiss turnovers into 41 points and out-rebounded their opponent 54-42.
McKenna Eddings led Auburn with 16 points along with three rebounds and three steals. Honesty Scott-Grayson filled the stat sheet with 11 points, five assists and five steals. Three others scored 10 points with Kionna Gaines, Kaitlyn Duhon and Sydney Shaw all reaching double figures.
Savannah Scott led the Tigers with 10 rebounds, and Mar'shaun Bostic had a team-best six assists. Duhon, Bostic, Gaines and Scott were among the Tigers' most effective players in plus-minus rating; all four were above plus-20 with Duhon leading the way at plus-31.
"It started with Duhon," Harris said. "Her cuts are so hard, she guards really well, she rebounds hard, she got into the heart (of the defense). She just did a really good job, and I thought that set the tone for us. I thought everybody played hard."
Shots fell early as a 32-point first quarter was the spark that got the game going in the right direction. Despite a foul-plagued first half, the Tigers were able to increase their lead at halftime to 51-37.
The lead ballooned to 79-54 after three quarters, and the buckets kept on coming as time wound down. With just over a minute to play, Celia Sumbane knocked down a 3-pointer to push the Tigers over the 100-point mark.
Auburn shot 41.1 percent as a team, getting up 90 shots in the contest.. Auburn's bench accounted for more than half the scoring with 59 points. A combined 59 fouls were called in the game.
Gabrielle Nikitinaite, who played collegiately at Northern Illinois, George Washington and SIUE, led the Swiss team with 21 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
DATE CHANGE: The Tigers' final game of the trip in Nice, France, originally scheduled for Monday, has been moved to Tuesday. Auburn will take on the Cote d'Azur All-Stars at 7 p.m. local time (noon CT) in Nice; a live stream may be available depending on WiFi/internet availability in the competition venue.
Auburn erupts offensively in 103-68 win in Switzerland
