MOBILE, Ala. – Five players scored in double figures, and an offensive flurry early in the fourth quarter broke the game open as Auburn earned an 82-62 road win at South Alabama Wednesday night.
The Tigers (4-4) used a 16-0 run that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters to break open what had been a close game throughout. Auburn's long-range shooting was effective for the second straight game as the Tigers hit 12 3-pointers, giving them 25 over their last two contests.
"I thought Daisa (Alexander) and Brooke (Moore) did a great job setting the tone in the top of our (press), and that got the defense going," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said of the Tigers' start to the fourth quarter. "And then we took our defense and turned it into points.
"We had been in some tight situations, and we knew in those situations that we needed to get some stops. We really got down and got some stops, our back line started rotating properly, coming up and trapping that diagonal pass they were throwing. I thought we did a really good job there."
Sophomore Brooke Moore led the Tigers' offensive attack with a season-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-6 beyond the 3-point arc. Erin Howard and Daisa Alexander had 14 points apiece; Howard made a career-high four 3-pointers and also had a career-best four steals.
Unique Thompson grabbed three rebounds in the fourth quarter to extend her double-double streak to nine straight, dating back to last season. She finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds and was 7-of-7 from the floor. Lauren Hansen was Auburn's fifth player in double-figures with 10 points and a team-leading four assists. Kiyae' White added eight rebounds.
As a team, Auburn shot a season-high 53.3 percent from the field (32-60) and was 50 percent (12-24) from 3-point range. The Tigers out-rebounded the Jaguars 36-30 and scored 21 points off 15 USA turnovers.
South Alabama (3-5) led 47-45 with 4:46 to play in the third quarter. But the Tigers' defense held the Jaguars to just one basket over the next eight-plus minutes, outscoring them 23-2 in that stretch to build a 19-point lead with 7:47 to play. From there, the Tigers cruised, pushing the advantage to as many as 26 before a couple of late defensive lapses let USA cut the final margin to 20.
Auburn never trailed in the first half, taking a 37-32 lead at the break. Moore hit four 3-pointers in the first half with three of those coming in the second quarter as the Tigers extended their lead to as many as eight points. But the Jaguars stayed in the game thanks to 10 second-chance points off eight offensive rebounds in the opening half.
Shaforia Kines led South Alabama with 18 points, and Damaya Telemaque added 15. The win was Auburn's 25th straight over South Alabama dating back to 1981; it was the first meeting between the teams since 2010.
The Tigers wrap up their season-long five-game road swing Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas, as Auburn faces TCU as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Game time is 2 p.m. CT with radio coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m. on WTGZ 93.9 FM.