NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt completely trounced the visiting Tigers of Auburn on Sunday at Memorial Gymnasium in a 81-66 victory.
After digging an early hole, Vandy blitzed their way to a 15-point triumph thanks to a double-double of 19 points (tying a career-high) and 10 rebounds by Jordyn Cambridge. The senior also had three assists and two steals.
Brinae Alexander poured in 24 points, Iyana Moore scored 22 and Vandy got 11 from Sacha Washington. The Commodores (12-10, 3-5 SEC) registered 18 assists and shot 58.3 percent from the floor.
Now on a two-game winning streak, Vanderbilt heads back out on the road next week to play No. 15 Georgia (16-4, 5-3 SEC) at 6 p.m. CT Thursday.
Vanderbilt struggled at the outset Sunday by missing its first three shots and turning the ball over in the first 3 1/2 minutes. Auburn took advantage to the tune of a 7-0 lead.
But the Dores responded in a big way with a 16-0 run to edge back in front on the strength of a Moore three-point play, a Washington layup and Alexander triple from the left wing.
The Commodores punctuated the opening period with a buzzer-beating layup from Cambridge making it a 22-9 game going into the second stanza. Vandy had six assists on nine made field goals.
Vanderbilt started the second quarter the way it ended the first and went up 29-11 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Moore and Alexander, respectively. Washington’s putback off her own miss made it a 35-13 game. Later, a layup from Cambridge positioned the Dores with their biggest lead of the first half, at that point, 39-15.
Alexander capped off the first 20 minutes with a corner jumper from the left side giving Vanderbilt a 46-21 lead. The Dores shot 73.1 percent, dealt out 11 assists and scored 20 points off 13 Auburn turnovers.
The Tigers won the third quarter 19-18, but that certainly wasn’t enough to make any sort of the dent into the deficit. Vandy, up 64-40 going into the fourth, allowed Auburn to get within 12 in the waning moments – but no closer.
Vanderbilt, which built a 27-point lead at one point, survived 27 turnovers.
Aicha Coulibaly led Auburn (9-11, 1-8 SEC) with 21 points.
- Vanderbilt now leads the all-time series with Auburn 30-24 and is 15-9 in home games.
- The Commodores were 1-8 in their last nine against the Tigers before Saturday’s win.
- Vanderbilt last won back-to-back league games in 2017. It last won three straight SEC contests in 2016.
- Shea Ralph is tied for the fourth-most wins (12) in a single season by a first-year head coach at Vanderbilt. Stephanie White won 14, Joe Pepper won 15 and Jim Foster and Melanie Balcomb each won 22 in their respective first campaigns.
- Cambridge now has 185 career steals and 80 for the season. The senior was second nationally in that category coming into Sunday’s affair.
- Attendance was announced as 1,767.
