AUBURN, Ala.— Auburn survived a Gator avalanche to earn its first SEC victory, placing three scorers in double figures to defeat Florida 60-50 Sunday at Neville Arena, the first conference win of the Larry Vickers era.
“It’s great to get our first SEC win of the year,” Auburn’s first-year coach said. “Mentally, you never know how a team is going to bounce back from a game like Thursday (a loss at No. 2 Texas). We know every win in this league is going to be tough. We’ve got to figure out a way to play for 40 minutes. If we’re going to continue to win in this league, all four quarters have to be good.”
Harissoum Coulibaly and Kaitlyn Duhon each scored 14 points, Mya Petticord added 11, and Ja’Mia Harris flirted with a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.
“It means a lot,” said Duhon, who added six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot while drawing nine fouls. “My team was up for the challenge and we were ready.”
Coulibaly made her first three shots to lead Auburn to an early 6-0 advantage. Petticord hit a 3-pointer, Duhon spun in the paint and beat the shot clock, then A’riel Jackson swished a corner 3 to give the Tigers a 10-point lead.
“In our first three SEC games, we’ve been clawing from behind,” Vickers said. “We wanted to do a better job in first quarters. I thought they did an excellent job coming out with a ton of energy and it carried on from there.”
As well as Auburn played in the first quarter, the Tigers struggled mightily in the second quarter.
After Petticord opened the quarter with a 3-pointer to put the Tigers ahead by 11, Florida went on a 19-0 run during which Auburn missed nine consecutive shots and a pair of free throws.
“It was deflating,” Vickers said. “As the run was happening, we began to put our heads down. The (11-point Auburn) lead gave us enough of an opportunity to make our run. They came out in the third with a lot of energy.”
After an eight-minute drought, Duhon made a free throw, then banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut in half what had been an eight-point Gators lead.
“My coaches have been talking to me about how I’ve been shooting it well this season,” Duhon said. “I didn’t hesitate and let it fly.”
Trailing 27-23 at halftime, the Tigers regained momentum in the third quarter, starting the second half the same way as the first, with a Coulibaly steal and layup before tying the score with a lob to Khady Leye for a layup.
After Florida went ahead by two points, Petticord hit her third 3-pointer to give Auburn its first lead of the half, the start of a 7-0 run that gave the Tigers a five-point advantage.
The Gators (12-7, 0-4) reclaimed the lead with an 8-0 run before Leye scored in the paint to pull Auburn within one point heading to the fourth quarter.
The lead changed hands twice more before Petticord made a jump shot with 6:01 to play to put Auburn ahead to stay.
The Tigers pulled away by making six consecutive shots, including a 3-pointer by Harris during a decisive 9-0 run that turned a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 2:19 remaining.
Auburn made 9 of 10 free throws in the final quarter to keep the Gators at bay, outscoring Florida 20-11 in the final 10 minutes.
Auburn played outstanding defense on Florida’s Liv McGill, holding the SEC’s second-leading scorer to 14 points, 10 below her average, on 6-for-20 shooting and 1 of 8 from 3-point range.
“All of my teammates stepped up to the challenge, knowing that everybody had to get a piece of her,” Duhon said. “Being calm and collected and making sure she wasn’t the one getting them going for the whole game.”
The Tigers (12-6, 1-3) remain at Neville Arena Thursday hosting Alabama at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network on Welcome to the Jungle night, featuring free camo bucket hats for fans and Tiger cowboy hats for Auburn University students.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer