Coulibaly, Auburn women close strong to stun No. 4 Tennessee
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Aicha Coulibaly had 26 points and Auburn scored 11 straight late in a 71-61 upset of No. 4 Tennessee, ending the Lady Vols’ nine-game winning streak Thursday night.
The Tigers (9-10, 1-7 Southeastern Conference), the last SEC team to grab a league victory, built an 11-point halftime lead and closed strong. Tennessee (18-2, 7-1) came in as the lone SEC team with a perfect league record, but went six minutes without a field goal before a meaningless basket with two seconds left.
Coulibaly made 10 of 14 shots and had seven rebounds for Auburn, which had blown two straight fourth-quarter leads but took over in the end this time. The Tigers dominated the fourth 21-10.
Sania Wells added 13 points for Auburn, while Jala Jordan finished with 11 and Annie Hughes had 10. The Tigers were playing their third game in five days.
Jordan Horston led Tennessee with 21 points and eight rebounds, but also committed six of the team’s 21 turnovers. Jordan Walker scored 17.
Auburn turned a 10-point first-quarter deficit into a 39-28 halftime lead. Jordan hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with four seconds left to give the Tigers their largest advantage.
Auburn scored the final nine points of the first quarter to cut a 10-point deficit to 17-16
Horston scored six straight points to punctuate a 12-0 run starting early in the third quarter to help give Tennessee back the lead.
Auburn’s Mar’shaun Bostic hit a layup at the third-quarter buzzer to pull to 51-50. Then Auburn took over.
The Lady Vols are without center Keyen Green, who tore an ACL in last weekend’s win over Georgia.
BIG PICTURE
Tennessee committed seven turnovers in the second quarter, a problem that plagued the team throughout. It was the Lady Vols’ first loss since falling to defending national champion Stanford on Dec. 18.
Auburn committed just nine turnovers to help secure the biggest win of coach Johnnie Harris’ first season.
SEEDING REVEAL
Before the game, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Selection Committee had Tennessee as the No. 4 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament. They’ll announce new top-16 projections on Feb. 10 and Feb. 28.
UP NEXT
Tennessee hosts Arkansas on Monday.
Auburn visits Vanderbilt on Sunday.
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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
