Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. (11/01/2026) — The Auburn Tigers overwhelmed the Alabama State Lady Hornets 84-35 at Neville Arena on Sunday, turning a one-point deficit at the end of the first quarter into a 49-point rout behind a game-breaking 24-0 run and a balanced attack that put four players in double figures.
Auburn shot 49 percent from the field and 38 percent from three-point range while piling up 17 assists and a 43-32 edge on the glass. Alabama State struggled to find any offensive rhythm, finishing at 24 percent from the floor and 18 percent from deep with 23 turnovers against just two assists.
How It Happened
The final margin hides a genuinely competitive opening quarter. Danielle Osho staked Auburn to an early 3-0 lead with a 26-foot three off a Phoenix Stotijn assist at the 9:42 mark, but the Lady Hornets kept answering. Caylee Simpson buried a 26-footer off a Ny'Keria Flowers feed to keep Alabama State within 8-5, and after Ashley Knox's 24-foot triple made it 12-11 Auburn, Londyn Walker's layup at the 59-second mark put the visitors in front 14-13. Savannah Scott's layup off an Osho assist in the final second pulled Auburn within 16-15, but Alabama State carried the lead into the second quarter.
It never led again. Knox opened the second quarter with a layup off a Sania Richardson assist to put Auburn up 17-16, and the floodgates opened from there. Richardson drilled a 25-foot three off a Ja'Mia Harris assist to push the lead to 22-16, and the Tigers kept pouring it on through a 24-0 run that flipped a one-point deficit into a 37-16 lead by the time Zahara Bishop connected from 24 feet with 2:24 left in the half. Elliott Jessup briefly stopped the bleeding with a 26-foot three for Alabama State, but Richardson and Bishop traded assists on back-to-back triples — Richardson from 23 feet at 1:08, then Bishop from 24 feet with 15 seconds left — to send Auburn into the break up 44-21.
The third quarter brought more of the same. Jessica Peterson opened the half with a layup, Osho hit consecutive deep threes — a 26-footer off a Harris assist at 8:12 and a 25-footer off a Stotijn assist at 4:30 — and Kaleigh Heywood's 16-foot jumper in the final seconds made it 65-30 entering the fourth. Auburn closed it out from there, with Scott's free throw in the final five seconds setting the 84-35 final. Karrell Greene's 25-foot three at the 3:42 mark, off a Heywood assist, accounted for Alabama State's last field goal of note.
Turning Point
The 24-0 run bridging the first and second quarters decided this one. Alabama State led 16-15 after ten minutes and had matched Auburn shot for shot to that point. Then the Tigers' defense clamped down completely, the Lady Hornets went scoreless for an extended stretch, and Knox, Richardson, and Bishop turned the game into a procession. By the time Jessup's three ended the drought, Auburn led by 18 and the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Star of the Game
Danielle Osho led Auburn with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists, and her fingerprints were on both ends of the game's biggest swings — she opened the scoring with a deep three, assisted the layup that kept Auburn within one at the end of the first quarter, and buried two third-quarter threes that pushed the lead past 30. Sania Richardson deserves nearly equal billing: her 11 points, six rebounds, and team-high five assists fueled the decisive second-quarter surge, where she both scored from deep and set up Bishop twice. Bishop added 13 points and five rebounds, while Peterson contributed a 12-point, eight-rebound effort inside.
What It Means
For Auburn, this is exactly the kind of tune-up performance a team wants early in the 2026 season — four double-figure scorers, 17 assists, dominant rebounding, and a defense that generated 23 turnovers while holding an opponent under 25 percent shooting. The three-point distribution was especially encouraging, with Osho, Richardson, Bishop, and Knox all connecting from well beyond the arc.
For Alabama State, the first quarter offers something to build on. Walker (nine points), Simpson (seven), and Greene (five) showed they can score against SEC-caliber defense, and the Lady Hornets genuinely outplayed Auburn for ten minutes. The challenge is sustaining it — two assists and 23 turnovers over 40 minutes won't win games, and cleaning up the ball security will be the priority going forward.
