Coach Johnnie Harris and the Auburn Women’s Basketball Team welcomed the Florida Gators into Auburn Arena tonight for the 15th game and 12th conference game of the season. Auburn came into this game off a 68-66 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville Thursday Night. Florida came into this game after beating Mississippi State 73-64 in Starkville Thursday Night. The starting five for Auburn were Sania Wells, Annie Hughes, Aicha Coulibaly, Honesty Scott-Grayson, and Jala Jordan. The starting five for Florida were Kiara Smith, Zipporah Broughton, Nina Rickards, Jordyn Merritt, Faith Dut.
Aicha Coulibaly got the night started for Auburn offensively, scoring at the 8:39 mark of the first quarter. She would score another bucket at the 7:12 mark to even the score at four. Honesty Scott-Grayson hit a mid-range jumper at the 5:37 mark which got the crowd going. Precious Johnson kept the offense going with a jump shot at the 3:55 mark. Auburn forced a turnover, and Aicha Coulibaly made a layup on which she was fouled. Sania Wells hit a mid-range jumper at the 2:11 mark. At the 1:44 mark, Aicha Coulibaly hit a layup to score her eighth point of the night. Jala Jordan hit a three-pointer as the first quarter came to a close. After the first, Auburn led 17-16.
Annie Hughes got the second quarter started by hitting a three-pointer. Honesty Scott-Grayson hit another one from mid-range at the 5:54 mark to tie the game at 25 after a Florida run. The two teams traded buckets for most of the first half and neither team really pulled away or showed a decisive advantage. After a couple of sloppy possessions from Auburn, Florida had a 31-27 lead. A three-pointer from Jala Jordan ended Auburn’s dry spell and brought them back to within three.
At the end of the first half, Florida was on top 39-36. Auburn’s leader in points was Sania Wells with 10 points, she was also leading the team in assists with three. Honesty Scott-Grayson was the Tiger leading the way in rebounds with eight. Nina Rickards was Florida’s leading scorer with 10 points. Alberte Rimdal led them is assists with two. Zipporah Broughton was the Gator’s leader in rebounds with five.
Honesty Scott-Greyson got the third quarter started offensively for Auburn with a free-throw. Aicha Coulibaly forced a Florida turnover and connected with Annie Hughes for a fast-break bucket. Annie Hughes hit a three-pointer a got a steal after that, Xaria Wiggins hit a three-pointer on that possession to give Auburn a 45-43 lead, which was their first of the second half. Annie Hughes forced another turnover and scored a fast-break layup. Jala Jordan hit a three-pointer to give Auburn a 50-48 lead. Honesty Scott-Grayson hit another three-pointer to put Auburn up 53-52. Auburn allowed Florida to go on a decent run towards the end of the third quarter. At the end of the third, Florida led 60-55.
Florida got the fourth quarter started by going on an 11-2 run. With 5:53 left to play, the Gators led 71-57. Honesty Scott-Grayson scored two shots back-to-back to bring Auburn back to within 10. Florida had a technical foul called on them and Sania Wells hit both free-throws to cut the Florida lead to eight. It was not enough of a momentum shifter and Florida increased their lead to 12. Auburn made a push late in the game, cutting the deficit to eight with a minute left to play. Auburn drew a timely foul that sent Honesty Scott-Grayson to the line. She hit both to cut the Florida lead to four, with 0:19 left to play. Unfortunately Auburn had to foul, sending Florida to the line which put them down six with just 15 seconds left in the game. Annie Hughes did not want to give up, drilling a three-pointer to cut Florida’s lead to three with eight seconds left. Once again Auburn had to foul twice which ended up putting them down by six. The Final Score was 83-77 in favor of the Florida Gators.
Auburn’s leading scorer tonight was Honesty Scott-Grayson with 21 points. Auburn’s leader in assists was Sania Wells with six. Honesty Scott-Grayson also led the Tigers in rebounds with 14. Florida’s leading scorer was Zipporah Broughton with 18 points, who also led them in assists with three, and rebounds with six.
I personally asked Coach J about the team’s ability to spread the ball around. She said, “that’s something we wanted to do. We wanted to flip the floor and spread it around”. She was also asked about Honesty Scott-Grayson’s double-double. She answered, “we told her to be a little selfish and to go get a bucket.”
Auburn will be back in action on Thursday Night, as they travel up to Columbia to take on the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena.
