AUBURN, ALABAMA (EETV) After a 10-day hiatus caused by a COVID-19-iniduced cancellation from the University of New Orleans, first year head coach Johnnie Harris and the rest of the Auburn women’s basketball program returned to game action on Wednesday night when the Tigers travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to take down the Belmont Bruins 71-62.
The first several minutes of the contest were full of missed shots, turnovers and what was seemingly the byproduct of both teams coming off of longer-than-customary stints away from the game. Auburn started off just 1-11 from the field and was met with an offensive display by Belmont which served very much as a mirror.
Auburn’s head coach accredits her team’s ability to play toe-to-toe with Belmont regardless of how they were shooting to their development over the course of the season.
“They’re paying attention,” Harris said. “They’re learning, their basketball IQ is getting a lot better. We’re trying to put them in a good position and they’re understanding their roles.”
By the conclusion of the first period of play, the Tigers had found some form of sustenance on offense, knocking down 3 field goals in a row and bringing their shooting percentage up to 33.3 percent on the evening; however were unable to develop any separation between themselves and the Bruins, finding themselves deadlocked at 13 after the opening ten minutes.
As has become customary for fans of the orange and blue thus far in 2021, Auburn turned to sophomore guard Aicha Coulibaly to manufacture an offensive spark; the 6-foot Mali native was — once again — up for the task. After dropping seven of her teams 13 points in the first quarter, Coulibaly knocked down an additional pair in the second, forcing the Bruin defense to respect her game and opening up shots for her teammates.
Per usual, Auburn’s star guard gave all of the credit to her teammates.
“We just took our time,” Coulibaly said. “We had a game plan coming in and we knew we had to play together to win this game. We just put the work in.”
Coulibaly and company headed to the locker room leading their opponents 31-24 after going on a 14-4 run to close out the final 5 minutes of the first half.
As the squads returned to play at the beginning of the second half, it quickly became clear that both parties had made adjustments appropriate to limiting one another. The Bruins forced the Tigers into three turnovers in the first three minutes of the third quarter after forcing just six total in the first half; however, were only able to come away with four points.
Harris claims she had to slow her squad down and force them to reset and adjust.
“I just had to slow them down,” Harris said. “Sania was getting winded so I put Honesty at the point and moved Sania to the 2…when (Coulibaly) wasn’t scoring, Honesty was.”
Despite the defensive challenge presented by Belmont in the early going of the second half, the Tigers did not stray from their precious offensive scheme: feeding Coulibaly. The guard posted an additional six points, presenting juniors Jala Jordan and Sania Wells with the opportunity to take open looks and get to the free throw line.
After finishing the third quarter leading its opponent 36-30, the final 10 minutes of play presented Auburn with a much closer contest than Harris might have liked. The Bruins surged to open the quarter, bringing the game within just one; however, Coulibaly and junior guard Honesty Scott-Grayson refused to lose, combining for 18 points in the quarter and effectively holding off their opponents.
“Our offense just was flowing,” Coulibaly said. “We’ve got some quick guards which made it easier for us. Whatever the switch is, we’ve got the mismatch.”
A leading force throughout the duration of the contest, Coulibaly finished her evening with 24 points.
With the victory now behind them, Harris’ squad improves to 6-3 on the season and officially surpasses the program’s win total in 2020; however, there is little time to celebrate the milestone as the orange and blue must now prepare to turn around and take on Grambling State inside Auburn Arena on Saturday. Tipoff between the two Tiger squads is set for 2:00 p.m. CST on SEC Network plus.
