AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn All-American Carolyn Jones-Young, a two-time SEC Player of the Year and a star on two Final Four teams, served as celebrity letter holder during a timeout in the season opener.
A few minutes later and a few feet away, CJ’s daughter Audia Young, wearing her mom’s No. 21, hit one of her three 3-pointers.
The younger Young scored a career-high 11 points to help Auburn defeat Southern Illinois 65-31 Monday in Tipoff on The Plains at Neville Arena.
“It’s exciting with my mom being at the game, I was very happy,” said Young, who made 3 of 4 3-pointers and was 4-for-6 from the field. “A memorable moment for me and my mom. I had confidence. I’ve been working on it a lot, especially during the offseason. I had the green light.”
In her Auburn debut, transfer DeYona Gaston led four Tigers in double figures with 14 points.
“We had fun out there. It’s pretty cool to be in a good environment where everybody supports you,” Gaston said. “We take pride in our defense.”
Celia Sumbane scored a career-high 13 points and Kaitlyn Duhon added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Young added four steals, sharing the team lead with Taylen Collins, who led Auburn with 10 rebounds.
“She can make a shot,” Auburn coach Johnnie Harris said of Young. “I thought she set the tone on the defensive end. She stayed in the ballgame because of what she did on the defensive end. She forced them to turn the ball over and she took a charge. That’s what she’s been working on. I was really happy for her and pleased that her hard work is paying off.”
It was an Auburn family kind of night with freshman Syriah Daniels, the daughter of former Tiger basketball standouts Shana Askew Daniels and Marquis Daniels, playing 12 minutes and contributing two rebounds and a steal in her first collegiate action.
Freshman Jordan Hunter also made an instant impact, grabbing five rebounds and distributing four assists in 8 first-half minutes while finishing with six of each.
“The experience they got was good,” Harris said. “They’re working hard in practice and we’re going to need them in the rotation. They’re not afraid and they’re going to continue to get better.”
Leading by a dozen at halftime, Auburn doubled the lead during a 13-1 run in the third quarter on Young’s third 3-pointer.
Auburn’s signature trait in the Coach J era, the Tigers forced 29 turnovers resulting in 23 points.
“We wanted to set the tone,” Harris said. “Defense is what we do. Our defense was pretty solid. It took us a while to wake up on the offensive end. A good start. It’s always good to get a win.
“Our pressure was really good. I thought our help side was really good tonight. It made them put the ball down and try to drive it. We were able to get rebounds once they missed shots. I really wanted to see the effort. I wanted us to be tenacious on defense.”
Ater a cold-shooting start, Auburn heated up in the second quarter, outscoring the Salukis 19-8 to build a 27-15 halftime lead. The Tigers held SIU to 20-percent shooting for the game.
Two wins away from 1,000 program victories, Auburn (1-0) attempts to get one step closer to the milestone Friday when the Tigers host Virginia University-Lynchburg at 6 p.m. CT.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer