The Auburn Tigers welcomed the No. 3 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks to Neville Arena Thursday night, looking to pull off an upset for the ages. However, it wasn’t to be, and Auburn dropped the contest to the Gamecocks, 81-51.
Though the Lady Tigers were looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking defeat against No. 16 Oklahoma in their previous game, Auburn was simply unable to combat South Carolina’s firepower. Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks are not a team anyone wants to be playing in a bounce back game, nor have they been in decades.
Led by emerging star freshman Joyce Edwards, talented junior Tessa Johnson, and Staley’s patented stifling defense, the Gamecocks were able to keep the young Tigers team clamped down. Auburn was unable to grab the lead early in the game and ended up trailing for the entire contest.
The Tigers leading scorer did not come from the starting rotation, but rather off the bench. Syriah Daniels was able to knock down four shots on eight attempts, tallying 11 points. The next highest scorer for Auburn was the Tigers’ French freshman Harissoum Coulibaly with 10.
The team’s woes against conference opponents continue, as Auburn drops to 2-6 against SEC teams and 13-9 overall in head coach Larry Vickers’ first season on the Plains.
“We just have to do a better job across the board. We have to do a better job,” Vickers said. “You can’t make up for missed layups by getting a block on the other end”.
One bright spot in Auburn’s performance against the Gamecocks was the 16 turnovers that the Tigers forced, which they turned into 14 points. Auburn has struggled in the turnover category for much of the season, so any improvement will be taken gladly, no matter the score
Auburn looks to rebound against Ole Miss, a game that was originally scheduled to be played in Oxford on Sunday. However, the two teams will now face off in Birmingham on Monday night, Feb. 2, at 6 p.m. CDT due to inclement weather.
