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NCAAW : Coulibaly (25 points) and Scott-Grayson power Auburn to win over Oklahoma State
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Johnnie Harris’ Tigers continue to roll, having won their third straight game by defeating Oklahoma State 77-66 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge from Auburn Arena on Sunday.
This was a game that Auburn controlled, as the only time it trailed was when the score was 2-0.
“I thought our team came out and played tough,” Harris said. “Just a total team effort. Our staff was awesome with preparing our players for this game.”
Early on, the Tigers were scoring at will in the paint. They were able to shoot a hot 64.3% from the field during the first quarter and at one point led 31-18. The Tigers were able to exploit a mismatch against guard Honesty Scott-Grayson, which led to them having the early success that they had.
“The person that was guarding Honesty was a mismatch, so I put Sania at point and Honesty at [shooting guard],” Harris said. “We ran high ball screens, and Honesty was getting to the paint. She either scored or dished for easy buckets. We were just trying to find mismatches and get easy buckets from that.”
Oklahoma State made a few runs throughout the game to cut the deficit to as small as two, but each time the Cowgirls made a run, Auburn was able to respond.
“We knew that they were going to go on runs,” Harris said. “We prepared them for that, and we told them that we have to respond when they go on a run. When that happened, we just slowed down, got into good sets, found mismatches, and our kids responded.”
For the game, Auburn shot a very efficient 60.4% from the field and did not have to force shots all game.
To end the game, Auburn allowed only seven points in the final six minutes of the game, with two of those points coming in the final ten seconds when the game was already decided.
“We did a better job of helping,” Harris said. “We tried to keep them out of the paint. They were trying to score in the paint. They did get off some threes, but we were able to keep them out of the paint and finish with the rebound.”
Scott-Grayson scored 22 points for the game with 15 coming in the first half. Sania Wells pitched in 13 points to go along with four assists.
Aicha Coulibaly had another strong game posting 25 points and five rebounds, with 17 of those points coming in the second half. Oklahoma State was putting a guard on her, and the Tigers responded by finding that mismatch and posting her up. She is averaging 25 points and 7.3 rebounds over the past three games.
During the week, the Tigers had to deal with some sickness as three players, including guard Annie Hughes, missed practice on Thursday due to the illness.
Auburn has the week off for finals before they face off against New Orleans on December 12 at 2 pm CST. The game will air on SEC Network.
Source : The Plainsman
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