NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A game that featured eight ties and 17 lead changes saw Auburn unable to hold onto a late lead in a 53-50 loss at Vanderbilt Thursday afternoon.
The score was tied with a minute to play, but Vanderbilt scored with 33 seconds left to take the lead. Auburn had two possessions in the final seconds but was unable to convert those into points, and the Commodores held on.
"We came out and made mistakes but we were still in the ball game," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said." We had a lot thrown at us – had to change the game time, got in late, had to get up early for shootaround – those are not excuses. Our kids handled that. We have to control what we can control. We were driving it to the hole, and things just didn't go our way.
"(Vanderbilt) started putting it on the floor because they didn't have passes available. Our defense was good, we held a good offensive team to 53 points. But it was not a good shooting night for us. But that's life on the road in the SEC, we've got to be able to finish."
Honesty Scott-Grayson continued her stellar week with a team-leading 15 points along with a season-high six assists. She also had six rebounds on the day. Taylen Collins just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Trailing 52-50, Auburn had an opportunity to tie the game with six seconds to play with two free throws coming. The Tigers missed the first and had the second waved off on a lane violation.
After a Vanderbilt timeout, a stellar sideline defensive play gave the ball back to the Tigers with 4.6 seconds left. But the Tigers could not get a shot off, Vandy would draw a foul and make one shot, and a half-court heave hit the backboard to end the game.
On a cold day in Nashville, the shooting wasn't much warmer inside Memorial Gym as neither team topped 40 percent from the field. Auburn was 21-of-59 for 35.6 percent, and Vandy wasn't much better at 18-of-47 (38.3 percent). Auburn made just one 3-pointer on 13 attempts.
The Tigers converted 21 Vandy turnovers into 18 points and controlled the paint with 38 points to Vandy's 20. But the Commodores took advantage of more opportunities at the free-throw line, making 13-of-17 while Auburn was 7-of-12.
Neither team ever led by more than four points in the second half. The teams traded blows throughout the third quarter with the lead changing hands 10 times. A driving layup by Mar'Shaun Bostic in the closing seconds gave the Tigers a 1-point lead at 41-40 after three.
A low-scoring first half saw Auburn take a 22-21 lead at the break. The Tigers led 9-0 at the media timeout of the first quarter, but went cold over the final five minutes as Vandy closed the gap to 9-6. The teams traded the lead four times in the second quarter before a reverse layup by Scott-Grayson with under 30 seconds to play put the Tigers back in the lead.
Khamil Pierre led Vanderbilt with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The game was moved to an earlier start time because of impending winter weather in the Nashville area. Auburn was also missing two key rotation players as McKenna Eddings and Oyindamola Akinbolawa did not make the trip due to illness.
Auburn is back home for another huge Sunday showdown as rival Alabama visits Neville Arena for a 2 p.m. CT start.
Prior to Sunday's game, Auburn legend DeWanna Bonner will be honored by having her jersey retired in a pregame ceremony that will begin at approximately 1:50 p.m. The 2009 SEC Champions, of which Bonner was a part, will be recognized at halftime.
Auburn drops back-and-forth battle at Vanderbilt
