Auburn pulls away in second half, hands Little Rock 82-48 loss

AUBURN, Alabama — Little Rock scrapped its way through the first half of Thursday's non-conference game, trailing by just six points at intermission against a tough Auburn team. But when the Tigers caught fire in the second half, the Trojans couldn't keep up and eventually fell 82-48 at Neville Arena. Little Rock (1-2) was outscored 25-10 in the third period and 51-23 in the second half after heading into the locker rooms trailing just 31-25 at the break. Auburn improved to 3-0 and earned the 1,000^th win in program history.
 
Faith Lee led the Trojans with 10 points, Alaina Payne came off the bench to score nine points and grab three rebounds, Sug Williams added eight points and three boards, Jayla Brooks tossed in seven points and swiped five steals, and freshman Brenna Burk went 8-for-8 from the line to finish with eight points. Little Rock shot just 6-for-23 in the second half and finished at 34.8 percent for the night.
 
Arkansas transfer Talia Scott – making her Auburn debut – led all scorers with 26 points and tied the school record for three-pointers in a single game with eight. She also grabbed nine rebounds. DeYona Gaston finished with a 21-point, 14-rebound double-double. The Tigers forced Little Rock into 24 turnovers, which Auburn converted to 26 points.
 
Little Rock's only lead of the game came in the first minute when Brooks hit a triple to put the Trojans ahead 3-2, but Auburn responded with an 11-0 run to go in front 13-3. The Trojans put together seven unanswered points out of the media timeout to pull within two and Auburn ended the first period with a bucket for a 17-13 advantage.
 
Brooks converted a steal into a layup just 90 seconds into the second frame, tying the score at 17-17, but then Little Rock went scoreless for almost five minutes while Auburn went ahead by six. After Williams made a layup to end the drought, the Trojans went two more minutes without scoring before she ended the half with a pair of free throws. Auburn led 31-25 at the half.
 
The third period is where things unraveled, as Auburn opened the second half with a 16-0 run to stretch its lead to 47-25 midway through the period and headed into the fourth with a 56-35 advantage. Auburn's lead reached 68-38 with 5:58 remaining and Little Rock would play the last 5:24 without scoring a field goal.
 
The schedule gets more difficult for the Trojans, who head to Manhattan, Kansas this weekend to prepare for a date with #10 Kansas State (3-0) on Monday evening.