AUBURN, Ala. – Taylen Collins led four Tigers in double figures as Auburn unofficially opened the 2023-24 women's basketball season with a 77-49 exhibition win over West Georgia Monday night at Neville Arena.
A 15-point night from Collins off the bench joined strong efforts up and down the roster as a team laden with newcomers got to play together for the first time on their home floor.
"I thought our team played pretty hard," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "We made some mistakes, but I thought our chemistry was good. We caused some turnovers. I would like to see us score more off those turnovers. But for the most part, I was pleased with our effort. We missed some shots, but we executed well."
Along with her 15 points, Collins posted five rebounds, two steals and an assist. Another newcomer, junior college transfer Celia Sumbane, was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field for a 14-point night that also included four rebounds and four steals.
"I was just trying to not put too much pressure on myself," Collins said. "I just tried to do the little things, not do too much, just played my game tonight."
Honesty Scott-Grayson poured in 13 points, and Sydney Shaw added 10 with a pair of 3-pointers. Kaitlyn Duhon was a force defensively with six rebounds and a team-best six steals, and JaMya Mingo-Young made the most of her first appearance in orange and blue with a team-best eight rebounds.
Mar'Shaun Bostic finished with a team-best five assists to go along with eight points. Freshman Yakiya Milton had a pair of blocks in her Tiger debut.
Auburn forced West Georgia into 30 turnovers, converting those into 30 points. Meanwhile, the Tigers took care of the ball with just 11 turnovers of their own. Auburn controlled the paint with 58 points inside and turned 17 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points.
Everyone on the roster played at least three minutes with 11 players seeing at least 10 minutes of playing time.
"I tried to play just about everybody in the first half and then everybody in the second half, looking at different rotations," Harris said. "At a certain point it wasn't about points, it was about getting different rotations in there and different combinations. Pretty pleased with what I saw."
Auburn shot better than 40 percent in all four quarters, finishing at 43.8 percent for the night.
"We've all been waiting for this moment," Scott-Grayson said of being back on the court. "We've been practicing since June, getting ready for France. So just playing against other, we were getting tired of it. Being able to play against somebody different, we were excited. And we knew we had to get after it."
The Tigers never trailed, building as much as a 35-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Aliyah Washington, the Gulf South Conference freshman of the year last season, led West Georgia with nine points.
Auburn wraps up the exhibition slate this Thursday, Nov. 2, against Columbus State. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at Neville Arena, and admission is free.
Newcomers shine in 77-49 exhibition win over West Georgia
