AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn hosted Southern Illinois on Monday night to top off their 2024-2025 campaign. The Tigers moved to 1-0 on the year in a game where their slow start turned into a defensive masterclass. Auburn showed what they can do on the defensive end and how they have hung their hat on that under Coach Harris, allowing that to be their calling card and the catalyst for their offense. Auburn showed what they hope to be this year with their defensive prowess and aggressive style.
“I thought we wanted to come out and set the tone and defensive is what we do giving up seven points in a quarter and eight points in the next” Coach Harris had to say after the opening win “I thought our help side was really good.”
When looking at the defensive side of the ball, it is easy to look at blocks and steals and judge a defensive performance off of them alone, but Coach J's style of play pushes defense beyond that. High-paced and fluid, the defense-to-offense transition is what made the Tigers so good a year ago, and it looks like after one game this season, it will be more of the same from Auburn.
Auburn’s defensive style is intensive and taxing, and depth and fresh legs are key as the season long marathon gets underway. The Tigers need everyone if they are to put up the same defensive effort as the season progresses in the non conference, Auburn plays their next two games against non-power four teams, but after that, the level steps up quick with a west coast trip to both Oregon and Cal two important non-conference games that will be a litmus test for the Tiger’s. Freshman and newcomers will need to learn fast how the Auburn Tigers play defense ,known locally as “40 minutes of hell for the other team”, it takes a whole roster to be effective and lead to upsets like we saw last year against LSU.
“I think they help each other” Coach Harris said of the veterans “They've been able to help them by encouraging them…They're out there setting the tone for them.”
Veterans for Auburn are key to their success on the defensive end, players such as Mar’shaun Bostic who is the epitome of Coach Harris’ style, now a senior on the plains is a leader for this Auburn team with her ability to run the floor and stay in front of any guard. A true SEC point guard, she is not only a leader but a player that will take the toughest assignment on the floor for Auburn as they begin to see power four competition in a few short weeks. Bostic had a slow start to the season in the opener but Coach J reaffirmed her trust in the senior point guard after the game.
Celia Sumbane and fellow forward DeYona Gaston will hold down the post all season long for Auburn they showed their ability to be pests for fellow bigs to deal with. Looking way down the road to conference play teams such as South Carolina and LSU as well as Ole Miss are the top dogs in the SEC and Sumbane and Gaston showed tonight that they look to compete with them and give Auburn a chance in big games down the road.
“I had fun we had fun out there,” Gaston said after the game “It's pretty cool to be in a good environment everybody supports you in” Gaston had to say of her Auburn Debut “We try to help each other out on defense…take pride in our defense.”
Auburn is back in action on Friday night as they play host to the Virginia University Lynchburg, tipoff is at 6 p.m. central time in Neville Arena streaming on SECN+ with the radio broadcast on ESPN 106.7.
