AUBURN, Ala — The Auburn Tigers (12-14, 3-10) lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores (19-7, 6-6) by ten, 98-88, in an overtime thriller inside Neville Arena. The Tigers' three-game home win streak ended with today's loss to the Commodores led by star freshman Makayla Blakes.
Auburn had a strong offensive performance until 4:46 remaining in the fourth quarter, where they were then unable to hit any shots from the floor relying solely on free-throw shots until DeYona Gaston hit a jumper with 0:37 seconds left in overtime.
Coach Johnnie Harris said, “In the fourth quarter we got tired. We missed layups that hurt us, and we made bad decisions down there.”
The Tigers certainly struggled offensively down the stretch, but that does not mean there were no stand-out performances on the offensive side of the ball. DeYona Gaston continues to be a star for the Tigers finishing today’s game with 25 points. Auburn’s Yuting Deng also had a great game, with 27 points and nine rebounds, she continues to improve every week.
“They have really good chemistry,” Coach Harris said, “They’re developing really good chemistry. They are the two that stay in the gym.”
Deng and Gaston’s combined 52 points helped the Tigers in regulation in their offensive efficiency, putting together one of the Tiger's best games in SEC play this season. Additionally, Mar ‘shaun Bostic had a great game with a double-double consisting of 14 points and 11 assists, but she did foul out towards the end of regulation which hurt Auburn in overtime.
Coach Harris said, “It’s the experience, not having a senior and having to go with a freshman, who did fine, but it is not what you want when you’re in that situation.”
The Tiger's inability to score from the field late in the fourth quarter and into overtime, really hurt especially when Vanderbilt’s Makayla Blakes was hitting shots from inside the paint to outside the arc, her performance for Vanderbilt was near-perfect.
Blakes went 15-28 from the field, 2-7 from three, and 23-24 from the line resulting in a total of 55 points breaking their own NCAA, SEC scoring record that she set earlier in the year against Florida.
Blakes’ performance, especially late in the game, is what helped the Commodores come back from down 15 with 6:55 remaining in the game. “Our thing is defense,” Coach Harris said, “We cannot give up 98, that’s what killed us.”
Though the Tigers did not have the best overall defensive performance, they still played strong on offense and if they can clean up some of their mistakes, they may be able to turn some of these close losses into wins.
“In the SEC we have got to keep fighting. We have to come back,” Coach Harris said, “We’ll have a couple of days off and then we’ll play a really good Alabama team.”
Auburn will have to bounce back from this overtime loss especially since they are headed to Alabama for another ranked road test. Auburn at No. 21 Alabama is at 4:00 p.m. CST on Sunday, February 16 on the Auburn Sports Network and the SEC Network.
