CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands – DeYona Gaston had her third double-double of the year, and every available Auburn player scored as the Tigers routed Pittsburgh 82-50 Friday afternoon at the Paradise Jam.
Auburn used runs of 18-2 and 15-2 in the first half to pull ahead to a 22-point halftime lead, and the Tigers dominated under the basket with a massive size advantage leading to huge differences in rebounding and paint points.
“We wanted to set the tone,” Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. “We wanted to be aggressive, be up the line, not give anything easy and turn them into creators. Make them do things they don’t normally do.
“The middle of the paint was open against their zone, so we were getting to the middle, going high-low and inside-out, getting paint points that way. I thought DeYona just went to work on the boards. Celia got a couple early, Taylen got a couple, so those offensive boards were really big for us.”
Gaston finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. She also led the Tigers with four assists. Celia Sumbane added 12 points, and Audia Young scored 11 points, all in the fourth quarter, as she knocked down three 3-pointers.
Taylen Collins also had 10 rebounds to go along with six points, and Kaitlyn Duhon matched a season-high with six rebounds of her own.
With Pitt having only one player over 6-1 available, the Tigers dominated the glass to the tune of a 49-22 rebounding advantage, the largest single-game rebounding margin for Auburn since 2018. Auburn controlled the paint, too, outscoring the Panthers 40-12 inside.
For the game, Auburn shot 51 percent from the field (34-67), more than doubling Pitt’s made field goals (14-51, 27%).
The Tigers led 17-8 after one quarter, ending the period on an 11-2 run. That became an 18-2 run when Auburn scored the first seven points of the second, extending the lead to 24-8.
Pitt would cut the lead to as few as 10 with just under five minutes left in the half, but Auburn would end the half on a 15-2 run that featured four straight buckets from Gaston and a buzzer-beating layup from Oyindamola Akinbolawa to give Auburn a 41-19 halftime lead.
Sumbane and Mar’Shaun Bostic took control in the third, with Sumbane scoring six straight points and Bostic with a personal 5-0 run to push the advantage to 60-32 after three periods.
The Tigers’ bench got plenty of fourth-quarter minutes with Young, Syriah Daniels, Timya Thurman and Jordan Hunter all finding the scoresheet.
Auburn wraps up the week at the Paradise Jam Saturday afternoon when they take on Kansas at 4 p.m. local/2 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on ESPN 106.7 FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app, and the contest will be televised by ESPN+.