AUBURN, Ala.— In its fourth straight top-25 matchup, Syriah Daniels and Harissoum Coulibaly each scored in double figures but No. 3 South Carolina defeated the Tigers 81-51 Thursday at Neville Arena.
“Not too many teams in the country have an opportunity to play three top-5 teams and we have,” Auburn coach Larry Vickers said. “We have to do a better job versus those teams with our intensity, execution, finishing and coaching.”
Daniels made three 3-pointers and led Auburn with 11 points.
“Syriah did a really good job,” Vickers said. “She’s been in a really good groove these last three games. When she got some good looks today, she knocked them down.”
Coulibaly added 10 points. Khady Leye scored all nine of her points in the second half and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
“They play hard, every second and every minute. That has to be an imprint of your program,” South Carolina hall of fame coach Dawn Staley said. “Coach (Vickers) is a great coach. I think he’s well ahead of the curve.”
Coulibaly hit a jumper for Auburn’s first points before South Carolina took control with a 14-0 run during which the Gamecocks made six consecutive shots while Auburn missed eight straight.
Ja’Mia Harris ended the drought with a 3-pointer, then Coulibaly made a steal and went the distance for a layup and a 5-0 Auburn run.
Daniels made Auburn’s second 3-pointer to trim the Gamecocks’ lead to 11 points before South Carolina scored the final four points of the quarter to lead 25-10 after outrebounding the Tigers 14-5 while shooting 68.8 percent.
South Carolina’s length continued to bother Auburn in the second quarter. The Tigers missed seven consecutive shots and totaled only six points while the Gamecocks built a 38-16 halftime lead.
Auburn’s switch to a zone defense helped the Tigers cool off South Carolina, which shot only 28.6 percent in the second quarter after its sizzling start. Auburn also outrebounded the Gamecocks 12-8 in the quarter.
Auburn’s most effective offense came in transition after steals, with Coulibaly converting after Kaitlyn Duhon’s steal, and Angena Belloso going coast to coast for a layup after a steal.
“They cover a lot of ground,” Staley said. “They’re relentless in their pursuit of speeding you up. We knew that’s one of the things they do extremely well that we had to prep for.”
Auburn frequently got to the free-throw line in the third quarter, making 7 of 8 on its way to a 15-point period.
The Gamecocks (21-2, 7-1) extended their lead to 30 points going to the fourth quarter.
Leye started an 8-0 run with a smooth spin move in the paint. Coulibaly reached double figures with another steal and coast-to-coast drive. Duhon ended the run with a transition layup after Belloso’s steal.
Daniels ended a 7-0 Gamecocks run with her second 3-pointer before adding another 3 in the final minute to finish with her team-high 11 points and help Auburn match the visitors with 20 points apiece over the final 10 minutes.
Auburn (13-9, 2-6) hits the road for its next two games, playing No. 17 Ole Miss Monday at 6 p.m. CT at Birmingham’s Legacy Arena in a game rescheduled and relocated because of weather issues in Oxford, Mississippi.
Admission will be free, and all seating will be general admission. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ and can be heard on the Auburn Sports Network.
After playing at Florida next Thursday, Auburn returns to Neville Arena Sunday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. CT against No. 6 LSU in the Real Tigers Wear Orange promotion featuring an orange crewneck giveaway.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer