AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) – After falling to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 57-51 at home on Wednesday night, the Auburn Women’s Basketball Team bounced back against another pack of stinging insects.
The Auburn Tigers (3-1) hosted the Alabama State Hornets (0-4) at Neville Arena and walked away with an 88-49 victory.
“We just really wanted to focus on coming in and playing our style of ball,” Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. “Getting a good start, we didn’t feel like we got a good start in our last ballgame.”
Auburn was led by Remi Levy’s double-double that resulted in 16 points and 11 rebounds, as well as Aicha Coulibaly’s 21 points and six steals. Sania Wells also posted double-digits in the points column with 10. Sydney Shaw led the team in assists with six.
“I just wanted to go out there and perform for my teammates,” Levy said. “I definitely felt alive today. I’m just happy to be back.”
Depth was a huge factor in Auburn’s performance as the team had 42 points coming off the bench, including Levy’s 21 and Wells’ 10. On the contrary, the Hornets only had 11 points come off the bench.
“I subbed pretty quickly. That second group came out, and they played the way I wanted them playing,” Harris said. “That permeated throughout the team.”
Second chances were another category in which Auburn shined. The Tigers produced 22 second-chance points from 18 offensive rebounds. The transition game also benefited them, as 19 points came via fast break.
“It was a focus. We felt like we could either score in transition or in secondary,” Harris said. “I felt like us advancing the ball and pushing it, and the wings running and the post players running, I felt like that helped us get those fast-break points.”
Samiya Steele led Alabama State in points with 14, and Dakiya Sanders led them in rebounds with five and assists with two.
Auburn will be back in action on Friday and Saturday night as the Tigers take on the Indiana Hoosiers and Colorado State Rams in the Las Vegas Invitational.
