AUBURN, Ala. (December 31, 2023) – North Alabama Women's Basketball fell on the road to conclude non-conference play against the Auburn Tigers, 79-58, Sunday afternoon from Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala.
The New Year's Eve matchup and first official meeting since the NCAA started sponsoring women's basketball in 1982, the contest started almost even between the two teams. UNA's 35.5 percent from the floor to Auburn's 32.4 percent in the first half had the Lions in the game but trailing by three, 30-27. From there, the Tigers started the second half with their strongest scoring quarter with 28 points in the third, extending the lead to double-digits. North Alabama would have their highest scoring quarter in the fourth with 17 points, but Auburn would see the contest out and take the victory at home.
The Lions move to 4-9 on the season, while Auburn improves to 11-2 with an eight-game win streak. Both teams begin conference play this week.
North Alabama was led in scoring by sophomore
Alyssa Clutter, finishing with 16 points on 7-13 shooting, six rebounds, one steal and one assist. Her rebounds ranked second on the team. Two more double-digit scorers for UNA included freshman guard
Veronaye Charlton and senior guard
Alexis Callins, who contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Sophomore forward
Cameron Jones finished one rebound shy of tying her career high, tallying seven rebounds in 22 minutes of action to go with two points and an assist.
HOW IT HAPPENEDED
FIRST QUARTER: The final game of the calendar year began with UNA giving the Tigers a test early on. The Lions shot 41.7 percent to Auburn's 36.4 percent up to the first media break, with North Alabama taking a 12-11 lead. Charlton continued her hot shooting from UNA's last game against Tennessee Tech, leading the way with seven early points. A total of seven points by both teams were scored from the media timeout on, but the defense of UNA held Auburn to 27.3 percent shooting for the quarter. The Lions and Tigers headed to the second quarter tied at 15 apiece.
SECOND QUARTER: The second quarter started with graduate forward
Allie Craig Cruce initiating the scoring with an in-rhythm three-pointer off great ball movement from the Lions. The Tigers would answer with a three of their own, but junior guard
Olivia Jones and Charlton tacked on five more points for UNA with a three and layup, respectively. Auburn was able to go on their first big run of the game, scoring 12 unanswered to retake the lead at 30-23 with less than two minutes to go. North Alabama was able to cut the Auburn lead to a single score game with buckets from Clutter and senior
Sara Wohlgemuth in the final 1:15 before halftime. The Tigers led things halfway through, 30-27.
THIRD QUARTER: A quick four points from the hosts found North Alabama off to a slow start to begin the second half, but a Clutter layup for UNA's first score began things in the second half. The teams exchanged three-pointers on the ensuing possessions, but the Tigers continued to find the basket and get stops down the stretch, outscoring the Lions 8-4 to the media timeout. Auburn returned with a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 54-36. North Alabama was able to get back on the board after being held scoreless for three minutes after Callins was able to hit a three at the 1:37 mark. Clutter's layup with 55 seconds left in the quarter took things to the fourth with UNA down, 58-41.
FOURTH QUARTER: The comeback attempt in the fourth began with scores from Callins' three and Clutter's layup for UNA, but the Tigers' offense matched right out the gate with a three and layup of their own. A 6-0 run from Auburn extended the Tiger lead with 6:50 left, but the Lions continued to battle with a layup from sophomore guard
Rhema Pegues and Charlton. Despite North Alabama shooting 53.8 percent from the field in the fourth, Auburn's 60 percent from the field made the deficit hard to overcome.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- 40% – The total field goal percentage for North Alabama. Auburn held a slight advantage at 42 percent, but the Lions were able to find and hit shots when the opportunity arose. UNA finished 24-60 from the floor while going 6-22 from the behind the arc.
- 28 – The total number of defensive rebounds by North Alabama. It was an all-hands-on-deck approach for the Lions on the defensive side of the ball, using a team effort to counter the size of the Tigers. Cameron Jones finished with a team-high seven defensive rebounds, while Clutter had six and Wohlgemuth added five.
- 34 – Despite being more of a three-point shooting team this season, North Alabama finished with 34 points in the paint against Auburn to win the paint — two more than the Tigers.
- 14 – UNA's fast break point total, giving the Lions a 14-13 advantage.
COMING UP NEXT
UNA returns back to CB&S Bank Arena on Saturday, Jan. 6 for a three-game homestand to begin the conference portion of the season. The first matchup of 2024 will see Central Arkansas make the trip to Florence as part of a doubleheader with men's basketball, tipping off at 5 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
