20 points from Aicha Coulibaly helped Auburn escape Lexington with their second victory in SEC play in another game that came down to the very last second and a missed shot from an opponent.
The Auburn Tigers (12-8, 2-6 SEC) knocked off the Kentucky Wildcats (9-11, 1-7 SEC) 71-68.
"It was a total team effort," said Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris. "We came out a little sluggish, but it got better in the second quarter. Then it was a whole lot better in the third. Both on the offensive and defensive end, we slowed down and started running some really good stuff, and we got the ball in the right people's hands."
Coulibaly led Auburn in scoring with 20 points, followed closely by a season-high 16 points from Sania Wells. Jakayla Johnson led the Tigers in assists with six. Honesty Scott-Grayson led the team in rebounds with seven.
Auburn shot 27-59 (45.8%) from the field, 2-7 (28.6%) from three-point range and 15-20 (75%) from the free-throw line.
The turnover battle played a huge role in Auburn's success in this one, as the Tigers only gave the ball away 16 times to Kentucky's 20. Auburn scored 32 points off turnovers and held Kentucky to 18. Depth was also a strength for the Tigers as they posted 28 bench points to Kentucky's 11.
Getting the ball inside remained a focus for Auburn as 42 of its 71 points came from inside the paint. The Tigers interior defense held strong as well, limiting Kentucky to 26 points in the paint.
The most successful aspect of the game for Kentucky was second-chance scoring. The Wildcats scored 11 second-chance points off of 13 offensive rebounds. Auburn was held to six second-chance points from nine offensive rebounds.
Robyn Benton led Kentucky in scoring with 19 points. Maddie Scherr led the Wildcats in assists with three. Nya Leveretter led the Wildcats in rebounds with 11.
Kentucky shot 24-57 (42.%) from the field, 4-16 (25%) from three-point range and 16-22 (72.7%) from the three-point line.
Auburn will be back in action on Monday when the Tigers take on the Florida Gators (13-7, 2-5 SEC) at home in Neville Arena. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network.
