Auburn women cruise to win over Georgia Southern

The 3-0 start is the third in a row for the Auburn women’s basketball
team under Nell Fortner as the Tigers prepare to face their first ranked
opponent in No. 17 Ohio State. AU hosts the Buckeyesat 2 p.m., Sunday at
the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

Hobbs entered Wednesday’s game with 995 career points, needing just
five to reach the 1,000-plateau. At the 11:45 mark in the second half,
Hobbs picked up a steal at mid-court and ran it in for the layup and No.
1,000. She becomes the 24th player all-time at Auburn to reach the
mark.

Sophomore Alli Smalley led Auburn with 18 points, 12 of which came in
the second half, and four steals. Senior DeWanna Bonner followed with 11
points and freshman Chantel Hilliard rounded out the double-digit
scorers with 10. Freshman Parrisha Simmons was the only Tiger to go
scoreless in the game, but led Auburn in rebounding with seven.

Georgia Southern kept the game close in the first half, cutting the
Tiger lead to two at the 2:25 mark. AU finished the half on an 8-1 run
to take a 36-27 lead into the locker room.

We did not have our running game on track, I thought Georgia Southern
did a really good job of getting back on transition defense, which is
something you need to do against us,” said Fortner. We tried to force
some things, turned the ball over too many times and did not have a good
offensive flow in the first half.”

Bonner led Auburn in scoring in the first half, despite playing only 11
minutes. Smalley followed with six points while Sherell Hobbs added six
rebounds.

After making adjustments at halftime, Auburn tore out on an 18-5 run to
open the second period thanks to 10 points, including two three-pointers
from Smalley. Auburn fed off Smalley from there, rolling over the Eagles
by a 35-18 margin in the second half en route to the 71-45 win.

“We slowed down a little bit in the second half, ran some set plays,
had some good looks at the basket and started knocking down some shots
and that gives you confidence,” said Fortner. “The team listened
very well at halftime and I was very pleased with how the team came out
in the second half and executed what we talked about in the locker
room.”

The game marked the second in a row for Smalley to turn it on and lead
the Auburn charge in the second half. She had two points at halftime
against Temple on Monday and scored 16 to lead the Tigers in the second
half.

“She is creating somewhat of a niche for herself, coming out and
opening the game up in the second half,” said Fortner. “It was nice
to see her being confident with her shot. When she gets some open air,
she needs to take it and it was really nice to see her doing that.”

After struggling in the first half with a 39.4 field-goal percentage,
Auburn shot 57.1 percent in the second half to finish the game at 47.5
percent on 29-of-61 shooting. The Tigers hit 2-of-6 three-point attempts
for a 33.3 shooting percentage and were 11-of-25 from the free-throw
line for 44 percent.

Auburn held Georgia Southern to 28.1 percent from the field on 16-of-57
shooting. Ashley Melson led the Eagles with 10 points while Jamie
Navarro came off the bench for eight. Jessica Geiger led the team with a
game-high 10 rebounds.

A hot three-point shooting team so far this season, Auburn held Georgia
Southern to 5-of-24 from beyond the arc for a 20.8 shooting percentage.

After playing two games in three days, Auburn will take three days off
before taking on No. 17 Ohio State. The Buckeyes come into the 2 p.m.,
Sunday matchup at the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum with a perfect 3-0
record after downing Syracuse, 78-71, Wednesday night in Columbus,
Ohio.

Tickets are still available for Auburn's game against the Buckeyes, as
well as women's basketball season tickets. Individual packages are $50,
while the family plan, which includes four tickets, is $150. Regular
season-single game tickets are $5 and Auburn students are allowed in for
free. Groups of 20 or more can purchase in advance for a discounted
price of $2 per ticket.