AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn used a 24-0 run to pull away from Alabama State in the second quarter, hammering the Hornets 84-35 Monday at Neville Arena in Tipoff on The Plains.
“There’s nothing like that first game at home. We needed that 10 minutes to settle down,” said Auburn head coach Larry Vickers, embarking on his second season. “We incorporated our nine new players into our system. It was a good game for us overall.”
Making her Auburn debut, Miami transfer Danielle Osho christened her Tigers career with a 3-pointer on the game’s opening possession.
“It feels great to play games after practicing for so long,” said Osho, from Dacula, Georgia, in suburban Atlanta. “It feels good to get my first Auburn point, officially. It’s great being able to have my family come to as many games as they want to with them being so close.”
Osho led five Tigers in double figures with 16 points, adding five rebounds, three assists, four blocked shots and three steals.
“Coming out of high school, that’s something I hung my hat on, being able to affect the game in all kinds of ways and being versatile,” she said.
“We were super excited to add Danielle to our team,” Vickers said. “She fits our system perfectly. She has the size needed to rebound in our league but also the shooting ability to spread the floor.”
Zahara Bishop scored 13 points, Jessica Peterson scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, Sania Richardson added 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists, and Savannah Scott contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
Auburn made its first three shots before missing the next 11, ending the drought on freshman Ashley Knox’s 3-pointer.
In the final seconds of the quarter, Osho passed to Scott for a layup that cut Alabama State’s lead to 16-15.
The Tigers took over from there, scoring the first 22 points of the second quarter while holding the Hornets scoreless for nearly eight minutes.
“Our intensity was right in the first quarter,” Vickers said. “Eventually, we felt like we could pull away. We settled down, tried not to panic and began to move the ball.”
Richardson made a 3-pointer, then Bishop swished a corner 3 to give the Tigers a 44-21 halftime lead after outscoring Alabama State 29-5 in the second quarter.
All 10 Tigers who played in the first half scored including Richardson, who chipped in eight points in the period on 3-for-3 shooting that featured a pair of 3-pointers.
Auburn played the final three quarters without All-SEC defender Kaitlyn Duhon, who exited after taking a knee to her thigh.
“If you would’ve told me Kaitlyn Duhon would’ve played only eight minutes tonight and we’d play defense that well, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said Vickers, who anticipates Duhon being available Thursday.
Osho stayed hot in the third quarter, matching ASU’s output by scoring nine points on a pair of 3-pointers, a layup after a steal, and a free throw.
While Vickers’ inaugural Auburn team struggled with outside shooting, his second squad seems to have addressed that issue.
Against the Hornets, Auburn made 8 of 21 3-point attempts.
“It was important to us that we added shooting,” Vickers said. “We want to be able to space the floor.”
The Tigers maintained their defensive intensity in the fourth quarter, again holding the Hornets to five points and ending the game on a 9-0 run. Auburn forced 23 turnovers while yielding only two assists, holding the Hornets to 24-percent shooting.
“We did a good job of making them miss,” said Vickers, whose team held Alabama State to the lowest point total of his Auburn tenure. “We did a good job of rotating, contesting shots and flying around.”
Auburn (1-0) remains on the Plains Thursday at 6 p.m. CT against Southern Miss at Neville Arena.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer