Auburn's women's basketball team was overpowered by Old Dominion’s offense on Thursday night, losing 89-77 in Auburn Arena.
“We’re not going to beat anyone giving up 89 points. That’s way too many points and that’s not who we are, that’s not what we do,” Coach Flo said following the loss.
Many of these points came courtesy Old Dominion’s Ajah Wayne, who dropped 35 on the Tigers. A Birmingham native, she shot 14-of-20 from the field and shot 6-of-8 from the three-point range. Wayne found ways to get open against a struggling Auburn defense, and when she was open, she knocked down almost every shot she took.
That seemed to be the theme of the night, Old Dominion shot lights out in Auburn Arena. The Monarchs shot almost 60% from the field, and were right at 50% on three pointers. Old Dominion scored 42 of their points courtesy the three-point shot, hitting 14 of them.
To put this into perspective, Old Dominion scored 59 total points in its lone game before tonight’s matchup, with only one three-point shot made in the game. Some could say it was unexpected for the Monarchs to shoot 28 three’s all night, let alone make 14 of them, but the truth is that Auburn has to defend it better. The ball movement was quick, and executed well by Old Dominion. This gave the Monarchs great scoring opportunities, often finding themselves unguarded from behind the arc.
Ajah Wayne was not the only threat from downtown for the Monarchs, Victoria Morris made five three-pointers in her team-leading 29 minutes of play. Taylor Edwards also knocked down a pair.
Auburn did find ways to keep the game close for much of the game, before it got away in the fourth. The first three quarters, though, seemed that every time Auburn scored, Old Dominion would answer right back. The Monarchs took the lead early and never took the foot off the gas, holding the lead for over 37 minutes throughout the game.
“It’s the second game of the season, so we’re not going to be all bent over and everything has to change”, Coach Flo said. “At the end of the day we just have to play defense.”
Auburn’s offense is doing well, with the underclassmen stepping up, but how the defense progresses throughout the season will be the story to watch.
Auburn’s next game is a road trip to Birmingham to face off against UAB next Thursday at 6 p.m.
