AUBURN, Ala.— Energized by more than 3,000 frequently screaming schoolchildren on Education Day, Auburn taught Mississippi Valley a lesson in full-court pressure, defeating the Devilettes 110-50 Thursday at Neville Arena.
Thursday’s crowd of 5,769 fans was the fourth-largest for a women’s basketball game at Neville Arena and set a record for attendance at an Auburn non-conference home game.
“The crowd was absolutely amazing,” Auburn coach Larry Vickers said. “They brought the energy the whole time. It was so loud in here today. Sometimes we couldn’t even hear our play calls. It was a great atmosphere, and we can do it again.”
Khady Leye would lead six Tigers in double figures with a season-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. Arek Angui recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“Khady has done a great job since the second half of UNCG playing with aggression, but it’s a good aggression,” Vickers said. “She’s getting her teammates involved, attacking every rebound.
“Arek has played really solid minutes for us throughout the year. Today in close to 18 minutes, she got her first career double-double. She did a great job.”
Kaitlyn Duhon scored a season-high 16 points along with six rebounds. Harissoum Coulibaly scored 12, and Mya Petticord and Syriah Daniels added 10 apiece.
After Valley opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, Auburn went on a 6-0 run, taking a lead it would not relinquish.
The Tigers’ full-court press forced nine turnovers in the first quarter, leading to 13 Auburn points.
Coullibaly scored her first points on a reverse layup after an Auburn steal. Ja’Mia Harris made a steal and drew a foul on a layup for a 3-point play that capped a 14-0 Auburn run.
Auburn would turn 20 Valley turnovers into 33 points on the day.
“I was really pleased (with the defense) other than that third period,” Vickers said. “We were kind of watching the scoreboard, even though I heard everybody on the staff yelling, ‘It’s zero-zero.’ Other than that third period, we did a good job defensively, staying in front of guards.”
Leye closed out the quarter with a “Leye in,” giving Auburn a 27-9 lead after 10 minutes.
Leye continued to score in the second quarter, pushing Auburn’s lead to 20 points with a jump shot before her putback put the Tigers ahead by 25.
“We’ve been so reliant on the 3 these last few games in the first quarter,” Vickers said. “I felt like we did a good job getting paint touches and some easy layups. We kept putting pressure on them.”
Petticord and Sania Richardson made 3-pointers during an 8-0 run that gave Auburn a 45-14 advantage.
Auburn ended the half on another 8-0 run, initiated by Syriah Daniels’ 3-point play. Coulibaly’s transition layup after Richardson’s steal gave the Tigers a 30-point quarter before Daniels ended the first-half scoring with a free throw to put the Tigers up 58-21 at the half.
A foul-heavy third quarter saw Auburn take advantage of free-throw opportunities, hitting 8-of-10 in the period to push their advantage to 84-40 through 30 minutes.
Auburn opened the fourth quarter on a 13-0 run, taking a 97-40 lead on a Daniels transition layup.
Petticord put Auburn over the century mark for the first time this year with a corner trey, giving Auburn a 102-42 lead with just under five minutes to play.
For the game, Auburn shot a season-best 59.4 percent from the field and 80.6 percent from the free-throw line. Of their 110 points, 50 came in the paint and 25 were from the charity stripe.
Auburn (4-0) continues its five-game homestand Monday at 6 p.m. CT when Georgia State comes to Neville Arena.
“We’re just trying to get better,” Vickers said. “At this point in the year, you just want to get two percent better every day, and I felt like we did that.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer