Knoxville, TN (EETV) - Auburn women's basketball looked to get their first win at Knoxville in over 30 years. The Tigers will have to wait another year to get that opportunity as the Lady Vols defeated Auburn 73-62. Tennessee completed the season sweep of Auburn after beating them earlier in the year at Auburn's home arena. Auburn (18-7, 6-6 Conf) outplayed Tennessee (16-8, 5-6 Conf) in the first half, being up by five at halftime and as many as seven in the second quarter. That all changed in the second half as the Vols went on a 16-5 run to open the third quarter to take a 43-37 lead and never looked back, outscoring Auburn 46-30 in the second half.
As it seems with most of Auburn's losses, rebounding was a key factor in their loss with Tennessee out-rebounding the Tigers 45-30. Tennessee had two players with double-doubles. Rennia Davis finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Cheridene Green had an almost identical stat-line having 16 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman gurad Zaay Green led all players in scoring with 25 points.
Besides being out rebounded, Auburn only had five attempts at the free throw line making two of those compared to Tennessee's 14-16 effort from the line. Auburn's Unique Thompson finished with a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Daisa Alexander stuffed the stat sheet, leading the Tigers with 22 points, four steals, three assists, two rebounds and went 4-10 from the 3-point line.
With only four games left, the Tigers will look to finish strong and hope that they can get that number four seed in the SEC tournament which will give them a much-needed bye. Auburn will host the Iron Bowl this Sunday against in-state rival Alabama. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. and you can watch it on the SEC Network.
