Auburn drops penultimate regular-season contest, fall to 4-11 in SEC play
Throughout the duration of the 2023 season, the Auburn women's basketball program has faced no shortage of adversity; the Tigers have had very few games in which their entire roster has been available due to a slew of injuries, head coach Johnnie Harris is in just her second year of a rebuild and the SEC is certainly not getting any easier.
After receiving word that junior forward Romi Levy had opted to undergo a season-ending knee surgery, coach J's group knew that Thursday night's road showdown with the Georgia Bulldogs was going to be yet another chapter in the same story; however, they did not know the fate of their eventual 70-59 loss.
Auburn's evening began in the most peculiar fashion possible; not only did the Tigers come out the gates with seemingly no offensive rhythm, the group was charged a technical for sending a different five to start the contest than was listed in the pregame book. First quarter matters did not improve from there.
Coach J's squad struggled to match the intensity of the hosting Bulldogs, rapidly digging themselves into a multi-possession deficit and effectively entering a half-long match of catch-up. The Tigers posted just nine points in the first quarter to an equally unimpressive 13 from UGA.
It was not until the second period that the orange and blue were able to regroup, resurge and play competitive basketball with their opponents; behind the efforts of junior Aicha Coulibaly and redshirt senior Honesty Scott-Grayson, Auburn was able to close the gap, outscoring the Dogs 16-15 and closing the gap before heading into the locker room for the halftime intermission.
Auburn trailed just 28-25 at the half, thanks — in large — to a combined 14-point effort from Coulibaly and Scott-Grayson.
Despite returning to the floor with the same intensity of which the Tigers maintains throughout the second period, the Lady Bulldogs found their stride; with Auburn in early foul trouble, the red and black continued to fight its way to the line, sinking all nine of its attempted free throws and ultimately extending the lead to 11 with just 10 minutes remaining.
Sitting on the bench with three personal fouls, all Coulibaly could do was watch and wait to return to the floor; unfortunately for Tiger fans, her efforts were not rewarded.
Auburn did itself no favors in the fourth quarter; the group was unable to lock down on defense and continued to struggle with handling the basketball on the offensive end of the floor, bringing its game-total of traveling violations to (11) on the evening.
Simply put, Auburn suffered from as many self-inflicted wounds as those caused by the highly regarded Lady Bulldogs.
With its final SEC road game now in the rear view mirror, Auburn will head back to the film room and practice gym in preparation for its regular season finale with the Commodores of Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff at Neville Arena is set for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn sports network.
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