AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) -- A 23-point breakout performance from Mar’shaun Bostic was not enough to lead the Auburn Tigers (16-15) past the Clemson Tigers (19-15) on the road in South Carolina, falling 56-55.
“We got some big stops on the defensive end, just couldn’t convert,” Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. “We tried to drive the ball a lot in the fourth quarter, trying to draw fouls. But we’ve got to finish shots with contact.”
Neither side was ever able to fully take control. Auburn held a one-point lead after the first quarter and trailed by one at halftime. The Tigers went into the final period trailing by four but ultimately ended up dropping the game and seeing their season come to an end by one point.
Bostic’s career-high 23 points led Auburn in scoring. Bostic, Aicha Coulibaly and Honesty Scott-Grayson each had two assists. Coulibaly led the team in rebounds with seven, and Kharyssa Richardson followed closely with five.
“I put the ball in Mar’Shaun’s hand, I felt like she could get to the rim whenever, and she did,” Harris said. “You’ll take that from her any night. I would have loved to see her get to the free-throw line a little bit more. But she also guarded their leading scorer … who ended up with six points. She and AC played hard and followed our game plan.”
Auburn shot 23-55 (41.8%) from the field, 2-8 (25%) from three-point range and 7-14 (50%) from the free-throw line.
Ruby Whitehorn led Clemson in scoring with 16 points, followed closely by Daisha Bradford with 12. Hannah Hank led the Tigers in assists with five and rebounds with 11. Amari Robinson also recorded nine rebounds.
Clemson shot 23-54 (42.6%) from the field, 3-11 (27.3%) from three-point range and 7-12 (58.3%) from the free-throw line.
“A lot to build on from this year. These kids came back after the SEC Tournament, we changed a little bit the way we were playing. We got after it a little bit more. They bought into it, they really enjoyed playing that way. They gave me everything they had, and I’m really proud of them. We had a short bench, but everybody came in and did what we asked them to do. We’re looking forward to them getting some rest, then being able to work with them and get better.”
Auburn’s 16-15 record marks the program’s first winning season since 2019. The Tigers' 73-58 win over the Tulane Greenwave in Neville Arena on Friday night was the program’s postseason win since 2019.
