No. 7 Texas (17-2, 4-1) outlasted Auburn (9-9, 0-5) 74-57 on Thursday night behind a spectacular 22-point performance by Madison Booker.
After starting the season 9-3, the Auburn women’s basketball team has dropped their last five games and was looking to get back in the win column. Unfortunately, that upset win would not happen tonight as Auburn’s losing streak extends to six straight games, including five straight to open SEC play.
It was a strong defensive start for both teams with nine combined turnovers within the first five minutes of the game. Auburn’s Mar'shaun Bostic took advantage of multiple early Texas mistakes, scoring six early points, four of which came off steals. It was a back-and-forth game until the media timeout, and then Texas’ offense started to get going.
The Longhorns would end the quarter on a 13-4 run, holding the Tigers to only one made field goal the rest of the quarter.
In the early minutes of the second quarter, it started to look like Auburn would close the early gap as they cut the Texas lead down to six. However, Texas proved why they’re ranked in the top ten, going on a 15-2 run in just over four minutes. This run gave Texas a secure double-digit lead heading into the media timeout and for the rest of the half.
Even with a great first half by Mar’Shaun Bostic with 10 points, Texas would go into half with a 21-point lead behind Madison Booker’s 19 points and seven rebounds.
Baskets were hard to come by in the third for both teams with eight combined points through four minutes. Even with Texas’ slow start to the second half, Auburn couldn’t cut into the Longhorn lead as Texas always responded after every Auburn score. It would be a back-and-forth affair for the rest of the quarter as Texas would extend its lead up to 25 heading into the fourth.
Auburn’s second-half offense finally started to come alive in the final quarter, scoring eight straight points and getting a silent crowd back into the game. This was the first time all night that Auburn was scoring consistently, pressuring Texas’ defense early on into possessions. Auburn would find its best offense in the fourth quarter outscoring Texas 23-15. Unfortunately, Texas’ lead was too big to come back in the fourth quarter alone, and the Longhorns won 74-57.
After the game, Coach Harris relieved Auburn fans after this tough six-game stretch, saying “We’re about to turn the corner, we’ll get a couple players getting healthy and we’ll turn the corner for the rest of the season”.
The Auburn Tigers fall to 9-9 on the year and 0-5 in SEC play. The Auburn Tigers will try to get their first SEC win against a struggling Missouri team Sunday at 2:00 CT on SECN+.
