GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Auburn Tigers (19-10, 8-8) closed out the regular season with a win on the road, taking down the Florida Gators (14-14, 5-11) 77-74 behind late game heroics.
Auburn walked out of the Stephen C. O’Connell center with a win, but it was not easy. The Tigers battled foul trouble all game long, with five players finishing with four fouls.
Senior star Honesty Scott-Grayson was forced to the sidelines for the majority of the fourth quarter, remaining on the bench until just under four minutes to play. With many of her teammates being forced to spend time off the court, junior guard Mar’Shaun Bostic would step up and deliver a career performance.
Bostic put up a season high 18 points, as well as a career high 9 assists, willing the Tigers to the finish line in Gainesville.
“I love a good away win,” Bostic said. “I just trusted myself and my teammates. I knew that we wanted to make it to the tournament and that we needed this win to have a chance to do so.”
The Gators had multiple attempts to win or tie the game in the closing minute, but clutch defensive stops from the Tigers sealed the deal.
First, it was a Taylen Collins drawn charge with seven seconds remaining that took the Tigers to the free throw line. Scott-Grayson made just one of those free throws to put Auburn up by three, but recovered to record a chase-down block on the Gators final attempt to tie the game.
“She was the only person who was not guarding a shooter that could come off and help,” head coach Johnnie Harris said regarding Collins. “So she came off and helped and she was there and she got the charge. And then Honesty, just not giving up on the play and coming from behind and getting that big block.”
In a scrappy game in which both teams would commit over 20 turnovers each, it was Auburn’s relentless effort that propelled them over the Gators. The Tigers finished with 24 points off turnovers and 14 fastbreak points.
“It showed that we want to win, and it showed that we’re doing this for each other, for our coaches,” Bostic said. “We’ve been through a lot this year from injuries and everything and we know that we got each other so we had to go get this one.”
With the win, Auburn will likely be hearing their name called on selection Sunday. It would be their first bid to the NCAA tournament since 2019.
Before selection Sunday, the Tigers still have business to attend to. The win over Florida locked Auburn in as the seventh seed in the SEC tournament. They will play their first contest of the tournament Thursday, March 7, and will face either Texas A&M or Arkansas.
