Vanderbilt’s Third-Quarter Surge Sinks Auburn in SEC Showdown
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - For a moment, it looked like Auburn might have something brewing. After a sluggish start, the Tigers clawed their way back into striking distance just before halftime, cutting a double-digit deficit to four.
But any momentum they had was gone in a flash after the break, as No. 5/4 Vanderbilt unleashed a third-quarter blitz that Auburn simply couldn’t withstand.
The result: an 81-53 loss at Memorial Gym that left the Tigers searching for answers.
“They came out from the jump, we didn’t get any rebounds, we looked scared to play,” head coach Johnnie Harris said postgame. “Then finally in the second quarter, we made a little run, we played with a little more intensity. But then we came right back out in the third, doing the same thing.”
That third quarter was the turning point. Auburn opened the second half down just four, and when A’riel Jackson scored on the Tigers’ first possession, the gap was just two.
But Vanderbilt responded with a knockout punch-an 18-2 run over five minutes that flipped a tight contest into a rout. The Commodores scored on their first six possessions of the quarter and never looked back.
From there, it was all Vandy. The Commodores shot 50 percent from the field (32-of-64), hit six threes, and dominated the boards with a 44-25 rebounding edge. They turned 14 offensive boards into 15 second-chance points, and that extra effort was the difference in a game where Auburn never truly recovered from the early and late punches.
“They scored on their first six possessions of the third period. And then after that, we fouled, and we just kept fouling,” Harris said. “We’ve got to be smarter than that, we’ve got to be more disciplined than that if you’re going to beat a top-five team, and we weren’t close to that today.”
Still, there were individual bright spots for Auburn. Harissoum Coulibaly led the Tigers with 13 points and added a pair of steals.
Kaitlyn Duhon continued to be a defensive spark, finishing with 11 points, five steals, and two assists. Jackson had her best outing in SEC play, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds.
Sania Richardson dished out a career-high four assists, and Arek Angui paced the team with five boards.
Auburn showed flashes, especially in the second quarter. After falling behind 23-12 in a turnover-heavy first period, the Tigers opened the second with a 6-0 run and held Vanderbilt scoreless for nearly four minutes.
When Mya Petticord buried a three with 3:30 left in the half, the deficit was down to four. And just before the buzzer, Duhon picked off a pass and went coast-to-coast, trimming the Commodores’ lead to 33-29 at the break.
But the second half told a different story. Auburn shot just 41 percent overall (22-of-54), and while they found success inside with 36 points in the paint, they couldn’t sustain it. The inability to consistently score stalled their full-court press, something the team relies on to generate energy and turnovers.
“We’ve got to make some baskets in order to get into our press,” Harris said. “In the second period, we were able to turn them over and made some shots, made some layups.
We’ve got to have a desire. I felt like we had that the last few games, we’ve got to get that back.”
Vanderbilt, now a perfect 20-0 (6-0 SEC), was led by Mikayla Blakes with 20 points, while Sacha Washington posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Commodores played like a top-five team should-poised, physical, and relentless.
Auburn drops to 13-7 (2-4 SEC) and will look to regroup at home, where they’ll host No. 16 Oklahoma on Sunday at Neville Arena.
It’s a big opportunity for the Tigers to bounce back, and it comes on a day celebrating Girl Scout Day and National Girls & Women in Sports Day. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
CT.