NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Three Tigers scored in double figures, but a big third-quarter run for Vanderbilt proved to be the difference as Auburn fell to the No. 5/4 Commodores 81-53 Thursday night at Memorial Gym.
“They came out from the jump, we didn’t get any rebounds, we looked scared to play. Then finally in the second quarter, we made a little run, we played with a little more intensity. But then we came right back out in the third, doing the same thing. I think they scored on their first six possessions of the third period. And then after that, we fouled, and we just kept fouling. We’ve got to be smarter than that, we’ve got to be more disciplined than that if you’re going to beat a top-five team, and we weren’t close to that today.”
Harissoum Coulibaly led Auburn with 13 points and had a pair of steals. Kaitlyn Duhon scored 11 points along with five steals and two assists, and A’riel Jackson had her best game in SEC play with 10 points and four rebounds.
Sania Richardson had a career-high four assists, and Arek Angui led Auburn with five rebounds.
Auburn was able to get to the rim early and finished with 36 points in the paint, but the shooting cooled in the second half and the Tigers finished at 41 percent (22-54). Vanderbilt shot an even 50 percent (32-64) that included six 3-pointers. The Commodores controlled the glass, out-rebounding Auburn 44-25 and turning 14 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.
“We’ve got to make some baskets in order to get into our press,” Vickers said. “In the second period, we were able to turn them over and made some shots, made some layups. We’ve got to have a desire. I felt like we had that the last few games, we’ve got to get that back.”
After a turnover- and foul-filled first quarter that saw Vandy take a 23-12 lead, Auburn opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run and held the Commodores scoreless for nearly four minutes as the margin was cut down to five at 23-18.
When Vandy moved back ahead by seven, a Mya Petticord 3-pointer cut it to 4 at 29-25 with 3:30 to play.
The Commodores led 33-27 and were holding for the final shot of the half when Duhon picked off a pass and took it the length of the court, scoring just before the buzzer to cut the halftime margin to four at 33-29.
Jackson scored on Auburn’s first possession of the second half to get the Tigers within two at 33-31. But from there, Vandy went on an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to push their lead to 45-31, and Auburn would get no closer.
Mikayla Blakes led Vanderbilt (20-0, 6-0 SEC) with 20 points, and Sacha Washington had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Auburn (13-7, 2-4) is home for its next two games, beginning Sunday when the Tigers host No. 16 Oklahoma. Game time is 1 p.m. CT at Neville Arena; it’s Girl Scout Day and National Girls & Women in Sports Day.