GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Auburn’s Ja’Mia Harris had one of her best games of the season, but Florida pulled away in the second half for a 61-53 win Thursday night at the O’Connell Center.
Despite battling foul trouble all night, the Tigers (13-12, 2-8 SEC) led throughout the first half and took a one-point lead at the break, but Florida went on a run early in the third and Auburn could never catch back up.
“With the foul trouble, we still went in at halftime up by one,” Auburn head coach Larry Vickers said. “But our effort was still good when we went to the bench. But in the third, though, our effort died down tremendously and they scored 22 points in that period. We’ve got to do a better job of playing for 40 minutes if we’re going to win on the road.”
Harris scored 18 points to lead all scorers, one shy of her season-high and her most in an SEC game this year. She also led the Tigers with seven rebounds.
“Today was one of Ja’Mia’s better games offensively,” Vickers said. “Hopefully she can carry that over to LSU.”
Both teams struggled from the floor with both under 40 percent for the night – Auburn at 36.8 percent, Florida at 39.2 percent. The difference came at the free-throw line where Florida hit 18-of-28 attempts while Auburn got to the line just eight times, making seven.
The first quarter was a defensive struggle that saw Auburn take an 11-7 lead after 10 minutes of play. A Syriah Daniels 3-pointer gave Auburn a 9-7 lead with just over a minute to play, and a pair of Coulibaly free throws pushed the advantage to four at the end of the period.
Auburn extended its lead to as many as seven on a Harris layup and a pair of Petticord free throws early in the period. But Florida made a living at the free throw line in the period, making 7-of-10 attempts as they chipped away at the lead.
The Gators pulled ahead for the first time at 25-24 on a Me’Arah O’Neal 3-pointer with just over a minute to play, but a Harris layup 20 seconds later put Auburn on top 26-25 at the break.
The third quarter, however, was the turning point. Florida scored on its first possession to take a 27-26 lead and never trailed again. The Gators opened the period on a 10-2 run, but a Harris trey and a Richardson jumper at the halfway point cut the deficit to two points.
From there, though, the Gators kept Auburn at arm’s length, scoring the final five points of the quarter to take a 47-38 lead after three.
Auburn, however, would not go quietly. A 7-2 run cut the deficit to 57-53 with just under a minute to play, and the Tigers got a stop on Florida’s next possession. But the Tigers could not get a good look and turned the ball over, and Florida sealed it at the free-throw line in the final seconds.
Laila Reynolds led Florida with 17 points, and Me’Arah O’Neal had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Auburn faces its fourth top-5 opponent in conference play Sunday afternoon when No. 5 LSU visits Neville Arena. Game time is 1 p.m. CT with a national broadcast on SEC Network.