Early in the second half, Auburn found itself in an unexpected dogfight with Jacksonville State on Thursday night.

But Blanche Alverson, Morgan Toles and Jordan Greenleaf made sure the home faithful at the Auburn Arena could finally relax.

Alverson hit two 3-pointers during a 16-0 run in the second half to help Auburn race out to a 22-point lead on the way to a 79-60 win over the Gamecocks, the third win in a row for the Tigers (7-6).

The Tigers led by only 5 at the half, though.

“We just focused on our shots,” said Alverson, who scored a career-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. “We missed a lot of shots early. We needed to knock them down when we had the opportunity. We needed to keep pushing the ball and they will fall eventually.”

Head coach Nell Fortner agreed.

“In the first half we missed so many layups and shots that take your confidence away when you miss them,” she said. “We came out and really attacked the zone in the second half. I thought that was the difference.”

Toles recorded the first double-double by points and assists by an Auburn player since Whitney Boddie in the 2009 SEC tournament, scoring 10 and dishing out 10 assists.

“I thought that was one of the best games Morgan Toles has had this year,” Fortner said. “That is pretty good company when you’re getting into Whitney Boddie territory.”

Greenleaf scored 15 points for Auburn, Tyrese Tanner scored 11 off the bench and Alli Smalley moved into 13th place on Auburn’s all-time scoring list with 11 points.

“I think this game gave us the confidence that we needed to go into SEC play with our heads held high and get prepared to play Alabama,” Greenleaf said.

Auburn trailed only once, 22-20, when the Gamecocks’ Brittany Wiley connected on two 3-pointers. But Greenleaf answered with back-to-back layups, and a 3-pointer by Alverson and a jumper by Jassany Williams put the cap on a 9-0 run to give the Tigers (7-6) the lead back.

Brittany Wiley of Jacksonville State (4-9) led all scorers with 20 points. Zenobia Pitts pitched in 10, and Danielle Vaughn notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The win wrapped up the nonconference slate for Auburn, which will travel to face Alabama (11-2) on Sunday at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.

“We are excited about it,” Fortner said. “This has been a good week of preparation for our first game on Sunday …”