Jordan Greenleaf knows the perils of getting lackadaisical with a big lead.

If a team like Mercer’s not always going to make you pay, teams like No. 18 Florida State and No. 6 Duke will.

So when the visiting Bears cut Auburn’s 20-point halftime lead in half, it was Greenleaf who scored 8 of the Tigers’ next 10 points to help put away Mercer, 79-61, in both teams’ season opener Friday night.

“All due respect to Mercer, but it’s not just about Mercer. It’s about Florida State and Duke coming up, all these good teams we’ve got coming up,” said Greenleaf, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. “I know that when we put our foot on someone’s neck and we’re up on them, we can’t keep letting them come back in it.

“I felt like I had to kind of take over then.”

Auburn (1-0) used 6 points each from Alli Smalley and Blanche Alverson to run out to a 21-8 lead over Mercer (0-1) in its first 9 minutes in the new Auburn Arena.

The Tigers carried that momentum to a 40-20 halftime advantage, with Alverson’s 9 and Smalley’s 8 leading the way.

But the Bears came out hot to start the second half and trimmed Auburn’s lead to 64-54 with 5:48 left in the game.

Freshman Briana Williams did most of the heavy lifting, scoring 20 of her 23 points — including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc — in the second half.

“We just kind of lost our focus coming out of halftime,” Auburn coach Nell Fortner said. “That little shooter got hot and that part was frustrating, but it happens. It was our first game and we’ll grow out of that.”

Alverson started the Auburn run with two free throws, Greenleaf poured in 8 in a row, and a Smalley layup polished off a stretch that polished off the Bears.

Smalley matched Greenleaf’s 16 points, Alverson scored 11 and freshman Jassany Williams put in 9 to lead bench scorers.

“We are always going to be happy with a win,” Smalley said. “It was sloppy at times, and there a lot of things that we need to work on before Florida State on Monday.”

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