The Tigers suffered an 88-54 loss to the Lady Vols Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena despite forcing 18 turnovers and having three players score in the double figures.
“I told them at halftime, as bad as we played in the first quarter, we were only down by 10,” Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “It was tough, when you’re not playing with many players and play that many games. Had we had more numbers, it’s ok, but that’s a lot of minutes you’re asking these young ladies to play. It affects our game plan, we’re not able to press as much. We still forced 18 turnovers, but the legs just have to be there.”
Alaina Rice led the Tigers with 11 points while senior Unique Thompson put up an impressive 10 points for Auburn. Both Rice and Thompson contributed five rebounds each and junior Alycia Reese contributed a season-high with 10 points.
While the Tigers fought hard till the end it was not enough to hold off Tennessee’s Rennia Davis who put up 23 points. The Lady Vols also out-rebounded Auburn 47-29 and shot 34-of-59 (58%) from the field, which is the best percentage Auburn has gone up against this season.
Auburn ends the regular-season 5-18 and 0-15 in SEC play. The Tigers will face Florida on March 3rd at 3 p.m. CST in the first round of the SEC tournament.
