The Auburn Tigers welcomed the Ole Miss Rebels into Auburn Arena tonight for the last home game of the 2021-22 season and for senior night. Auburn came into this game off after knocking off the No. 21 Georgia Bulldogs 65-60 at home on Sunday. Ole Miss came into this one off a 70-62 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks at home in Oxford, MS on Tuesday night. The starting five for Auburn tonight were Sania Wells, Annie Hughes, Aicha Coulibaly, Precious Johnson and Honesty Scott-Grayson. The starting five for Ole Miss were Shakira Austin, Lashonda Monk, Mimi Reid, Snudda Collins and Madison Scott.
The offense was a little slow to get moving tonight. Aicha Coluibaly broke the ice for Auburn on the scoreboard tonight with a layup at the 7:23 mark of the first quarter. Ole Miss didn’t share that struggle as they held a 7-2 lead at that point. Ole Miss continued to have a 12-0 run following that and taking a 19-2 lead. That was the score at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter got started with an Ole Miss basket to keep the run going. Jala Jordan finally snapped Auburn’s scoreless streak by hitting a three-pointer at the 8:56 mark. Jala Jordan hit another three-pointer soon after. Mar’shaun Bostic hit a lay-up to get Auburn to double didgits. With 5:14 left in the first half, Ole Miss led 27-10. Ole Miss killed the shred of momentum with a lay-up and a mid-range jumper off an Auburn turnover. Snudda Collins was a sharpshooter for Ole Miss, hitting two three-pointers in 26 seconds. Xaria Wiggins hit a three-pointer for the first Auburn points in what felt like forever. At the half, Ole Miss held a 38-15 lead.
Auburn’s leading scorer in the first half was Jala Jordan with six points. Sania Wells led them in assists with two. Honesty Scott-Grayson was the leading rebounder for the Tigers in the first half with four. The leading scorer in the first half for Ole Miss was Snudda Collins with 11 points. Their leader in assists was Lashonda Monk with three. Three different Rebels had four rebounds in the first half: Lashonda Monk, Snudda Collins and Madison Scott.
Ole Miss started out the third quarter by hitting two lay-ups in the first two minutes. Precious Johnson got the second half started offensively for Auburn by hitting ½ free throws and then a lay-up. Xaria Wiggins hit a mid-range jumper to get Auburn to 20 points. Honesty Scott-Grayson hit a lay-up, then got fouled on the next Auburn possession and hit both free throws. The score at the 4:27 mark of the third quarter was 53-26. Jala Jordan hit a lay-up at the 0:32.7 mark to get Auburn’s score above 30. She followed that up with a three-pointer on the next possession. At the end of the third quarter, Ole Miss led 59-35.
Ole Miss got the fourth quarter started strong with a mid-range jumper from Snudda Collins. Honesty Scott-Grayson got the scoring started for Auburn in the fourth quarter by hitting two free-throws. She would hit two more on Auburn’s next possession. Aicha Coulibaly connected with Honesty Scott-Grayson on a lay-up at the 7:19 mark. Sania Wells hit a three-pointer at the 5:05 mark to get her first points of the night. Aicha Coulibaly hit a lay-up to keep the defecit under 30. She hit two free-throws on the next Auburn possession. Unfortunately, it just was not Auburn’s night, as Ole Miss cruised to a 72-52 victory.
Auburn’s leading scorer tonight was Honesty Scott-Grayson with 13 points, she also led the team in rebounds with six. Their leader in assists was Mar’shaun Bostic with four. The leading scorer for Ole Miss was Snudda Collins with 20. Two Rebels led their team in assists having four each, Lashonda Monk and Mimi Reid. Madison Scott led Ole Miss in rebounds with seven.
Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris had some comments to make after the game.
“I didn’t think we were aggressive offensively,” Harris said of the Tigers’ slow start.
“I thought we passed open a lot of wide-open shots, and then we took some bad shots. We got better in the second half," Harris said. "But then we just didn’t guard them, we gave them wide-open shots in that zone. We wanted to make them score over us, but we also wanted to contest outside, and I thought they got wide-open shots.”
Auburn will be back in action this Sunday as they travel up to Lexington, KY to take on the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena. The game tips off at 3:00 pm and will be televised on the SEC Network.
