AUBURN, Ala.— Freshman Harissoum Coulibaly continued to show she can hold her own against the SEC’s best, but No. 5 LSU overpowered Auburn 77-44 Sunday at Neville Arena.
“It was a tough game to watch for us overall,” Auburn coach Larry Vickers said. “We have to do a better job against those top-five teams that can cut the nets down at the SEC Tournament. I don’t feel like we’ve lived up to those moments.
“We’ve done a good job with (teams ranked) No. 10 to No. 30, but we’ve got to do a better job with these top 10s, these top fives. I don’t feel like we had it today.”
Auburn’s only double-figures scorer, Coulibaly totaled 13 points and a team-high four assists and three steals. Clara Koulibaly led Auburn with 10 rebounds and made the Tigers’ first 3-pointer after 14 first-half misses.
Kaitlyn Duhon and Syriah Daniels made four steals apiece to help Auburn amass 13 swipes. Duhon added nine points and five rebounds.
The home Tigers turned 19 LSU turnovers into 22 points, accounting for the majority of Auburn’s offense.
LSU scored the game’s first seven points while Auburn misfired from 3-point range until Angena Belloso made a steal and passed ahead to Coulibaly, who followed her miss with a putback.
Trailing 16-6 after the first quarter, Coulibaly delivered a highlight-reel drive, drawing a foul on a spinning layup.
“She’s trying,” Vickers said. “We have to do a better job of making Harissoum’s job easier. She’s going to be a thousand-point scorer in this league. It’s a matter of making her life easier. When we do that, the sky’s the limit for her.”
LSU ended the half on an 8-0 run to lead 36-13 at intermission.
The Tigers scored 15 points in the third quarter, including Koulibaly’s 3-pointer. Transition layups after steals continued to be the Tigers’ best source of points.
LSU added 10 points to its lead in the third quarter before the teams played the final 10 minutes to a 16-16 draw that included 3-pointers from Duhon and Ja’Mia Harris.
“Get them playing hard,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said of the challenge facing first-time SEC head coaches. “When you’re a first-time coach, you inherit players. In the portal, you bring in players. It takes a period of time to get your own recruits in here. I used to say build a foundation but you don’t build foundations with NIL and the transfer portal. You never know from year to year who you’re going to have on your squad.”
LSU (22-3, 8-3) placed four scorers in double figures, with Zakiyah Johnson leading the way with 16 points and eight rebounds. Amiya Joyner delivered a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the visitors build a commanding 54-30 edge on the boards.
Seeking to end a six-game losing streak, Auburn (13-12, 2-9) has a midweek open date before visiting Texas A&M next Sunday at 5 p.m. CT. The Tigers’ next home game is Monday, Feb. 23, at 6:30 p.m. CT against Georgia with attendees receiving a free Coach Vickers acrylic stand up model.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer