Ja’Mia Harris and Khady Leye combined for 29 points, but Auburn was defeated by No. 23 Georgia, 74-52, at Neville Arena on Monday.
Auburn coach Larry Vickers expressed his dissatisfaction with the team’s performance. “I was completely disappointed today with our effort and our execution,” Vickers said. “We’ve got to do a better job of taking advantage of moments, being hungry and taking care of the things we need to take care of, individually and as a team.”
Leye led Auburn with 16 points, shooting 6-for-7 from the field and making all four free throws. Harris contributed three of Auburn’s four three-pointers and scored 13 points. Kaitlyn Duhon added 11 points.
Auburn started strong and finished the first half well, which helped offset an 18-0 run by Georgia during a nearly nine-minute scoring drought for the Tigers.
“We have to do a better job of stopping the snowball,” Vickers said. “We want to be resilient basketball players, a resilient staff and a resilient team, and that’s one thing we haven’t gotten yet.”
After Harissoum Coulibaly scored on Auburn’s opening possession, the Tigers forced a turnover and took an early lead with Leye’s layup. Duhon hit a three-pointer midway through the first quarter to give Auburn a 9-3 lead before Georgia responded by making six consecutive shots while Auburn missed six in a row.
Georgia took control after this stretch, building their lead to 21-9 before Duhon ended Auburn’s scoring drought. The Bulldogs went ahead by as much as 14 points before Harris closed out the half strongly for Auburn. She scored eight points in the final two minutes—two three-pointers and a layup—including beating the buzzer with another three-pointer that capped off a 7-0 run for Auburn, cutting Georgia’s halftime lead to 30-23.
The Tigers cut into Georgia’s lead early in the second half on Leye’s putback basket. However, Georgia responded with a 9-2 run to push their advantage back up before Harris hit her third three-pointer of the game. Leye continued her scoring in the third quarter, adding eight points including four in the last minute of play, leaving Auburn trailing by ten going into the fourth quarter.
In the final period, Georgia increased its lead again with an early 8-0 run and outscored Auburn by eleven before the media timeout. The Bulldogs totaled 26 points in those last ten minutes.
Georgia capitalized on turnovers throughout the game, outscoring Auburn in points off turnovers by a margin of 28-11 as Auburn committed 17 turnovers.
“We want to force more turnovers,” Vickers said. “That’s when we can score our best, when we’re able to force turnovers and get out and run.”
Dani Carnegie led Georgia (21-7 overall; 7-7 SEC) with 17 points as one of three Bulldogs who scored in double figures.
Auburn (14-14 overall; 3-11 SEC) will finish its home schedule on Thursday against No.16 Kentucky at Neville Arena at 6 p.m., marking Senior Night for the team.
“We’ll get in here tomorrow, refocus, and reenergize,” Vickers said. “I know we’ll come in tomorrow with a better sense of urgency and attention to detail.”
