AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) -- A 13-point game from Aicha Coulibaly and a 12-point game from Sydney Shaw was not enough to help the Tigers overcome the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
The Auburn Tigers (15-14, 5-11 SEC) fell 63-47 to the Georgia Bulldogs (21-10, 9-7 SEC).
“I thought we came out and we scored 10 points in the first quarter,” said Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris. “So we had a hard time getting good, open looks, or finding a person that was open. Then we held them to 12 points. We just didn't capitalize on it. First quarter, third quarter, third quarter they were 1 for 12, but we didn't capitalize as well.”
“We pretty much followed our defensive game plan. We just weren't able to score against their zone. I was really disappointed in our effort to go to the offensive rebound.”
Georgia used a dominant second quarter to propel themselves to the win, outscoring Auburn 26-15.
Auburn shot 17-54 (31.5%) from the field, 5-23 (21.7%) from three-point range and 8-10 (80%) from the free-throw line.
Coulibaly’s 13 points led Auburn in scoring, she also led the team in rebounds with nine. Shaw led the Tigers in assists with four.
“I know it's only my freshman year, but I imagined us going further than this,” Shaw said. “I didn't imagine us laying down like we did at the end.
Georgia shot 23-54 (42.6%) from the field, 5-9 (55.6%) from three-point range and 12-17 (70.6%) from the free-throw line.
Diamond Battles led Georgia in scoring with 18 points. Alisha Lewis led the Bulldogs in assists with 12. Brittney Smith, Audrey Warren and Javyn Nicholson led the team in rebounds with seven each.
Auburn struggled to get the ball inside, which had been one of its biggest strengths all season, only scoring 14 points in the paint. “As far as my future, I know my Coach has a plan for this team and a plan for me as well. I put my trust in my Coach and I know we are going to make it a lot further next year and the years to come.”
“I want to work on being tougher,” Harris said in her reflection on the season. “I feel like overall this season we were probably where we was projected, not where we wanted to be, not where we felt like we could have been. We started the SEC season with Honesty missing three games, then AC missed. So you have two of your top two scorers missing six games. Then you have Romi who was in the starting lineup missing three games, and those are our veterans.”
