AUBURN, Ala. (EETV)- Auburn’s women’s basketball team moves to 8-10 on the season and 0-7 in conference play with a 67-55 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night inside Auburn Arena.
Auburn’s 13-point turnaround wasn’t enough against a late 17-2 run by the Wildcats in the final minutes of the game.
“I thought our team came out to battle in the second half,” Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. “We got back in it, took the lead. You could see it, you could see that want in their eyes. But down the stretch we just made mental mistakes that cost us.”
Auburn’s rough first quarter started off with them only making 23 percent of their shots from the field, combined with six turnovers, and Kentucky shooting 47 percent from the field would give the Wildcats a ten-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Auburn was able to refocus in the second quarter, with the help of Aicha Coulibaly scoring four points and grabbing four rebounds. Jala Jordan also helped with scoring four points, and Annie Hughes was able to sink a huge three-pointer to narrow the lead down to six at the half with Kentucky leading 23-29.
Coming into the second half Auburn’s three-point shooting was a huge factor. After halftime Auburn was able to make 42 percent of their three-point shots, which is the best they’ve shot in the last nine games. Auburn tied their season-best from the three-point line with seven three-pointers made. Auburn was able to take their first lead of the night with Honesty Scott-Grayson making a clutch three with 7:42 left in the game to bring the score to 48-45.
Auburn would only be able to hold onto the lead until the five-minute mark, with the Wildcats going on a 17-2 run to end the game.
“We executed until it got down to the last five minutes of the ballgame. They made some really good reads, and we scored off of them. But those last five minutes, we just didn’t execute,” said Harris.
Coulibaly was able to record her fourth double-double of the season as she led the team in points with 14 and led the team in rebounds with 11. Other strong performances were included from Scott-Grayson with 10 points in the second half and Jordan was able to contribute with nine points off the bench.
The Wildcats were able to out rebound Auburn with Kentucky getting 43 rebounds and Auburn only being able to get 34. Turnovers also played a huge role in Auburn’s defeat, as they turned it over 15 times. Kentucky was able to capitalize and score 13 points off those 15 turnovers.
Auburn’s looking at another tough SEC opponent on Thursday, Jan. 27 against the No. 4 Tennesse Volunteers. The game is set to tip-off at 7 P.M. in Auburn Arena.
