AUBURN, Ala. | Shmya Ward finished with a double-double in an 83-50 loss to Auburn in the final non-conference regular season game for Alabama State at Auburn Arena Saturday afternoon.
Ward finished the day with 12 points and 10 rebounds, including shooting 5-of-12 from the floor and knocking down 2-of-3 free throws in the loss. Meanwhile,
Ayana Emmanuel added10 points and two assists, while
Taylor Aikerson added eight points and
Jayla Crawford finished with six.
Alabama State (1-10) shot just 29.8 (14-of-47) percent from the floor in the loss, while shooting 35.7 (5-of-14) percent from beyond the arc. They also finished at 85 (17-of-20) percent from the free throw line.
Auburn (12-1) jumped out to an 8-0 lead to begin the game, but a three-point basket by
Areleatha Gipson cut the lead to 13-5 at the end of the first quarter. Aikerson
came off the bench with 1:16 left in the second quarter to complete a three-point play and cut the Tiger lead to 30-20, before Brooke Moore would answer back for Auburn and hit a half-court shot at the the buzzer to give the Tigers a 37-20 lead at the end of the first half.
The Tigers would outscore Alabama State 22-9 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 59-29 to begin the final stanza, a deficit in which Alabama State could not recover.
Moore led Auburn with 23 points, while Crystal Primm finished with 12 points and three steals. Robyn Benton added 11 points off the bench, while Unique Thompson finished with eight rebounds and six points.
Auburn finished the day shooting 31.4 (22-of-70) percent from the floor, and 28.6 (10-of-35) percent from beyond the arc. The Tigers also shot 80.6 (29-of-36) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 24 Alabama State turnovers and scoring 34 points off of Lady Hornet miscues.
Alabama State returns to action Saturday, January 5, when they open Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play against Grambling State. Tip off is set for 3 pm inside of Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
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