On a cool, cloudy evening in Auburn, Alabama, it wasn’t rain that was falling from the sky; it was threes.
This past Thursday, the Tigers welcomed transfer guard Taliah Scott back from injury for her first game on the Plains. Facing a team fresh off of an overtime loss against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Little Rock Trojans, Coach Johnnie Harris looked to move her squad to 3-0.
The Tigers outscored the Trojans 17-13 in the first quarter in big thanks to none other than Taliah Scott. Scott started off red-hot with three straight threes in the opening minutes of regulation, providing her team a much-needed spark. The sophomore guard nailed a combined seven threes over the course of this game and showed how vital she will be to the success Coach Harris hopes to achieve in her fourth year at the helm.
The first half included a common theme as of late: DeYona Gaston making her presence known. The newly acquired Texas transfer tallied eight points, eight rebounds and one block as she reminded fans early in the game that she is still one of the top forwards in the country.
Trojans guard Alaina Payne was impressive in the first half as well, with seven points on 3-5 shooting off the bench. Accounting for one-third of her team's first-half threes, she was a bright spot in an ugly half for the Trojans.
Speaking of ugly, another story of the game was turnovers. Sloppy cross-court passes and steals haunted both offenses throughout the night as both teams combined for 23 turnovers in the first half of play. Auburn’s Taliah Scott gave up six of her own, blemishing her season debut.
With the first half in the books, Auburn had a less-than-comfortable 31-25 lead and looked to extend that in the next 20 minutes of action.
Little Rock struggled to hang on in the second half. Once fatigue set in for Coach Steve Wiedower’s squad, the mistakes started to pile up. An additional 11 turnovers and 11 personal fouls didn’t make it any easier, either.
The second half was more of the same for the Tigers-- that being Taliah Scott's threes and DeYona Gaston’s dominance. If tonight was any indicator, the pairing of these two transfers could pay off more than even Coach Harris had imagined. The duo picked apart the Trojan defense from all three levels and became essentially unstoppable. A double-double from Gaston, along with Scott’s record-tying 26 debut points, combined for a total of 47 points, 23 rebounds, and four assists.
The 1,000th win in Auburn Women’s Basketball program history was complete as the Tigers took down a resilient Little Rock team 82-48 to move to 3-0 on the season.
With this being the Tigers' final game before a six-game road trip, there is a lot to build off. If Auburn can minimize their turnovers, they’ve got more than a chance against the likes of Oregon, California, Northern Iowa, Pittsburgh, Kansas, and Virginia. We’ll see the Tigers back in action at home on December 8th at 2 p.m. when they face off against the UAB Blazers.
