CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The Larry Vickers era started on a high note as Auburn used a 14-0 run in overtime to pull away from Charlotte for a 71-58 win Monday night in the women’s basketball opener for both teams.
“We did a good job early in quarters coming out with that intensity,” Vickers said. “Hopefully we can figure out a way to do that for an entire 40 minutes.
“Charlotte threw a little 2-3 zone at us, and we stopped trusting our jump shot a little in the second period. Sometimes in the scrimmages you don’t see things like this, but I thought we did a good job in the second half of adjusting to the zone, moving the ball and getting what we wanted.”
Freshman Harissoum Coulibaly scored nine of her team-leading 19 points off the bench in the extra period as the Tigers used a smothering defense to force seven Charlotte turnovers in OT, turning those into nine points. Coulibaly was a big part of that defense with a team-best five steals.
On a tough shooting night, Auburn’s defense won the day as the Tigers forced 27 turnovers by the 49ers, turning those into 22 points. The Tigers also crashed the boards for 42 rebounds, 18 of those coming on the offensive glass.
“We have some resilient players on our basketball team, and they did an excellent job of being confident,” Vickers said. “For the most part, we stayed together for 40 minutes. This is our first time playing together, this is their first time getting adjusted to me. We knew we were going to make mistakes. And how we played through the mistakes was important. I felt like we did that, especially in that second quarter. We could have easily fallen apart.”
Coulibaly and junior Ja’Mia Harris shared the team lead with 19 points, and Harris had eight rebounds, one shy of a career-high, along with three steals. Redshirt junior Kaitlyn Duhon added 14 points and six rebounds, and she matched a career-high with four assists.
Sophomore Khady Leye filled the stat sheet in her Auburn debut with six points, four rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
Auburn took advantage of numerous free throw opportunities, particularly late in the game, as they knocked down 25-of-31 attempts at the line.
The Tigers kept Charlotte off the board for the first four-plus minutes of the extra period, scoring 14 straight points to turn a 55-all tie into a 69-55 advantage with less than a minute to play. Auburn got defensive stops or turnovers on eight straight possessions and converted all eight into points. Coulibaly had three fast-break layups and made 3-of-4 free throws, and Duhon, Harris, A’riel Jackson and Syriah Daniels all got in on the action as the Tigers pulled away.
It was a game of early-period runs for the Tigers. Along with the OT outburst, Auburn opened the first and third quarters on 9-0 runs. The latter saw the Tigers take the lead back after Charlotte had taken a four-point lead at the break.
Both teams were cold for much of the fourth quarter with only one made field goal for each team in the first six minutes. Charlotte would tie the game three times only to see Auburn answer on all three occasions, taking a 2-point lead with less than a minute to go. But a pair of late free throws pulled the 49ers even in the final 20 seconds of regulation, and they had a chance to win at the buzzer but they were unable to get a shot away.
It was all Charlotte the first six-plus minutes of the second quarter as they went on a 13-1 run of their own, moving ahead by as many as 8 with 2:43 to play. Auburn got a pair of and-ones from Duhon and Harris to get back within one at 25-24 with just under a minute to play, and a pair of 49er free throws made the halftime margin 27-24 in favor of Charlotte.
The Tigers opened the game on a 9-0 run, capped by a Petticord floater to force a quick Charlotte timeout with 6:27 to play in the first. The 49ers responded with tough defense of their own to cut the Auburn lead to 13-8 after one.
Karen Nimo led Charlotte with 17 points, and Tanajah Hayes added 12.
Auburn plays its home opener Saturday, Nov. 8, as Alabama State visits Neville Arena for Tip-Off on the Plains. Game time is 1 p.m. CT.