Box Score

AUBURN, Ala. – Tyrese Tanner collected 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead Auburn to a 69-59 women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern in Auburn Arena Saturday night. It was the season opener for both teams.

MiMi DuBose recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Eagles (0-1), and Anna Claire Knight scored 14 points. Alexis Sams finished with 11 points and five rebounds, and Briana Jones tallied 10 points and nine rebounds in her Eagle debut. Danielle Spencer corralled 10 rebounds.

Peyton Davis collected 15 points and 11 rebounds for Auburn, and Tra'Cee Tanner finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Georgia Southern trimmed a 13-point, second-half deficit down to five on a pair of Angel McGowan (7 pts, 3 reb) free throws midway through the period and had the ball after a defensive stop but could not get any closer. An 8-0 Auburn run, keyed by six points from Tra'Cee Tanner, pushed the lead back to 13 points.

The Eagles cut the advantage down to seven twice in the final 2:41, but each time, Davis scored a layup off a Tyrese Tanner pass on the Tigers' ensuing possession.

Georgia Southern committed 16 turnovers for the game and just four in the second half against Auburn's full-court pressing style.

"We knew they are long and athletic and that they wanted to force turnovers with their press, and the positive for us is that we handled that fairly well and kept attacking it and being aggressive for the full 40 minutes," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab.

The Eagles held the Tigers to 37.7 percent shooting from the floor, but Auburn tallied 25 second-chance points and 40 points in the paint.

"We didn't put a body on people, and that's something we need to get better at," said Vozab.

Leading 14-12, Auburn used a 13-1 run to open a 14-point lead on a Kiani Parker fast-break layup with 7:23 left in the half. Sams ended the drought with a triple from the wing for the Eagles and sparked a 7-0 spurt, capped by a Knight jumper.

A DuBose triple from the wing cut the margin to 29-23, and the senior scored the last seven GSU points of the frame as Auburn went into halftime with a 34-27 advantage.

The Eagles return to action Wednesday, Nov. 13, as they travel to No. 7 Kentucky for an 11 a.m. contest. Georgia Southern opens its home schedule Nov. 16 as the Eagles take on Jacksonville State at 5:30 p.m., the middle contest of a tripleheader with the GSU volleyball and men's basketball teams.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.