BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Harissoum Coulibaly led Auburn with 11 points, but a tough shooting and rebounding night led to No. 13 Ole Miss pulling away for a 71-45 win Monday night at Legacy Arena.
“You could clearly see the rebounding battle, that was disappointing,” Auburn head coach Larry Vickers said. “Ole Miss created second- and third-chance opportunities for themselves, and they did a good job attacking the basket and making us foul. We’ve got to do a better job of playing defense without fouling.”
Auburn struggled from the floor, shooting 32.1 percent for the night and making just one 3-pointer. Meanwhile, Ole Miss was 49.1 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Tigers 51-23.
Coulibaly was Auburn’s only player in double figures. Kaitlyn Duhon had nine points, and Khady Leye and Ja’Mia Harris finished with eight apiece. Leye also had five blocks, a career-high.
Auburn’s defense was solid throughout as the Tigers swiped 14 steals, leading to 12 points on 15 Ole Miss turnovers.
The Tigers got off to a great start, hitting five of their first six shots to take a 10-4 lead in the first three minutes of action. But they went cold from there and were held scoreless the remainder of the period as Ole Miss led 22-10 after 10 minutes. The Rebels would lead 35-19 at halftime as the cold shooting continued through the second quarter.
A crowd of 3,787 took advantage of free admission to watch a rare neutral site SEC game in Birmingham.
Cotie McMahon led Ole Miss with 20 points, and Christeen Iwaula finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.