AUBURN, Ala.— Khady Leye tied her career high with 20 points and Harissoum Coulibaly added 13, but No. 16 Kentucky capitalized on a fast start to beat Auburn 63-56 Thursday on Senior Night at Neville Arena.
“They’re a really good basketball team and they’re probably going to do some special things in the postseason,” Auburn coach Larry Vickers said. “Our seniors, we want to celebrate. Not everybody wants to join a program year one, especially in the SEC. I appreciate them for that. I felt like this was one we could’ve sneaked today.”
Behind five steals from Kaitlyn Duhon, Auburn forced 17 turnovers while committing a season-low eight, outscoring Kentucky 15-9 in points off turnovers. The bigger Wildcats outrebounded Auburn 37-26.
Leye led the Tigers with eight rebounds and scored 16 points in the second half, making 9 of 12 shots against primary defender Clara Strack, who stands 6-foot-5.
“The last three weeks, Khady’s begun to separate herself and say y’all can come to me offensively,” Vickers said. “She’s starting to separate herself from a scoring component and that’s good to build on moving forward.”
Auburn got a defensive stop on the opening possession and took a 2-0 lead on Ja’Mia Harris’ jumper before Amelia Hassett hit a pair of 3-pointers to start a 10-0 Kentucky run that led Vickers to call timeout to regroup three minutes into the game. Auburn missed its final six shots of the quarter and trailed 19-11 after 10 minutes.
“We got off to a super slow start,” Vickers said. “After that we played them evenly. Against a team that good, you have to be good for 40 minutes.”
Auburn matched the Wildcats point for point in the second quarter in a 16-16 draw, making its last three shots in a turnover-free quarter to head to halftime trailing 35-27.
“We’ve been a resilient group, from playing behind,” Vickers said. “We’re going to continue to fight and compete. We did a good job with Kentucky’s size of competing and fighting.”
Trailing by eight at the half, Leye opened the third quarter with points in the paint to cut the Wildcats’ lead to six, the closest Auburn would get in the second half.
Kentucky went back in front by 12 thanks to a 6-0 run but Coulibaly answered for Auburn with a Euro step layup and another Leye close-range bucket.
Hassett added two more 3-pointers to give Kentucky a 14-point lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Hassett then splashed her fifth 3 to push Kentucky’s lead to 19 early in the fourth quarter. One of four Wildcats in double figures, Hassett led Kentucky (21-8, 8-7) with 15 points.
Auburn continued to battle, scoring eight straight points and ending the game on a 14-2 run to pull within seven at the end.
In a pregame ceremony, Auburn honored five seniors: Angena Belloso, Duhon, Harris, A’riel Jackson and Mya Petticord.
Auburn women’s basketball fans set a Neville Arena attendance record of 57,011 in 2025-26.
The Tigers (14-15, 3-12) close out the regular season Sunday at Arkansas at 1 p.m. CT at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville before next week’s SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer