AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers (10-9) secured their first win in conference play against Missouri (11-10), 75-60. In a game where Missouri never led, Auburn dominated from nearly start to finish.
Throughout the game, Auburn relied on a balanced scoring attack along with Coach Harris’ signature tenacious defense. “I felt like we really set the tone with the way we wanted to play,” Coach Harris said. “I thought they set the tone on defense, and Taylor got us going with some big jumpers early.”
Taylen Collins led the way in the first half with two steals and 12 points, scoring on an efficient 5-7 from the field. Celia Sumbane added nine points in the first half as well.
Missouri consistently kept a double team on Auburn leading scorer DeYona Gaston, which opened up the offense for four different players scoring in double figures for the first time since early November.
Newcomer Yuting Deng checked into the game for the first time with 1:10 before halftime, and immediately drilled a contested three, nearly sending the roof off of Neville Arena.
Auburn led at the half, 36-22, despite Missouri shooting 47 percent from behind the arc.
The third quarter saw Missouri start to swing momentum in their favor. With 2:58 left, the comfortable double-digit lead from Auburn was cut to just seven after a second change bucket from Mizzou’s Laniah Randle.
However, it was once again the newcomer Yuting Deng who swung the momentum back in the favor of the Tigers. With 2:10 left in the quarter, the freshman hit two free throws followed by a cinematic shot-clock-beating fadeaway jumper. This four-point swing would mark the shift from a potential Missouri comeback to a final stretch dominated by Auburn.
With five minutes to play, the Tigers once again saw freshmen take over the game. A chase-down block from Yuting Deng led to an assist on the other end, followed by another three-pointer from Deng on the next possession. Freshman Jordan Hunter joined in on the scoring as well, hitting a deep three followed by an and-one bucket.
Auburn ended the game on an 8-2 run, finishing the job with a 15-point victory. Senior Celia Sumbane was another star in this outing; tied for a team-high 13 points and a personal career high in rebounds with 11, also securing her first career double-double.
With their first SEC win under their belt, and the team starting to get healthy, the Tigers will travel to Starkville later this week looking to upset Mississippi State. When asked about the locker room mentality heading into this upcoming road game, Coach Harris asked “Are you hungry, or do you just wanna eat? Our team has to be hungry.”
The matchup against the Bulldogs will tipoff at 6:30 pm on Thursday, streaming on SECN+ and the Auburn Sports Network.
