Despite pulling ahead in the second half, Auburn was unable to find their first win in the SEC slate.
The Auburn Tigers (10-8, 0-6 SEC) fell 72-58 at the hands of the Mississippi State Bulldogs (14-5, 3-3 SEC) tonight in Starkville.
“Just some mistakes down the stretch,” Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. “These kids, they worked so hard. They worked hard for this. I just feel bad that the mistakes we made, we put them on the foul line, we had some wide-open shots we missed. We were up three for a while but then couldn’t knock down a shot."
Per usual, Aicha Coulibaly's performance stood out among the Tigers as she Auburn in points with 15, rebounds with eight, and co-led in assists with Romi Levy having four each.
The Tigers looked dominant in the third quarter as they shot 12-15 (80%) from the field to knot things up at 47 heading into the final period. Mississippi State opened the final frame with a 7-0 run and Auburn was never able to catch up.
Auburn won the turnover battle, only giving the ball away 12 times to Mississippi State's 15, but it is hard to find many other bright spots for the Tigers.
Depth, which was a strength for Auburn early in the season, struggled again as the Tigers only had 16 points come from the bench.
Jessika Carter led the Bulldogs in points with 24, and JerKaila Jordan and Asianae Johnson co-led in assists with five. Jordan also led the team in rebounds with 12.
Auburn will be back in action on Sunday when the Tigers continue their search for their first SEC win against the Ole Miss Rebels at home in Neville Arena. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT.
