The Auburn maintenance staff could have some extra work on its hands.

The curtains that hang from the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum ceiling, designed to cover up the usually empty seats behind both baselines, might have to go.

Auburn is 17-0 and people are starting to take notice.

In their most impressive outing of the season, the No. 9 Tigers took down No. 18 Florida, 81-65, in front of 6,090 abnormally loud fans, the seventh-largest crowd in Auburn women’s history.

The attendance figure more than doubled Auburn’s previous high of the season, and was 1,060 short of the largest-ever, which was set in 1989 against Tennessee.

“It’s what you always want,” Auburn coach Nell Fortner said. “I was so pleased with it because it gives you a true homecourt advantage.”

Not that it’s really mattered where Auburn has played its games this season.

Auburn is one of four undefeated teams left in the country, joining North Carolina, Connecticut and Kansas State. No. 7 Tennessee, the only SEC team ranked higher, lost Sunday, 74-58, at Vanderbilt.

Sunday’s big win maintained the Tigers’ best start since 1988-89, when they won their first 29 games before losing to Tennessee late in the season. Auburn went on to win the SEC and advanced to the Final Four that year.

Surprisingly, the Tigers are 2-0 to start SEC play for the first time since 1995-96.

“It’s just a big win,” Fortner said. “Every win you get in this league is special.”

In this particular win, Auburn burned a speedy Florida team with some speed of its own and overcame a rough night on the boards with lights-out shooting.

The Tigers exploited the Gators’ slow-footed adjustments on transition defense and picked up a number of uncontested layups early in the contest. DeWanna Bonner ran a number of streak patterns that might be worthy of a tryout on Gene Chizik’s team to pick up the bulk of her 12 first-half points.

“That was just part of our plan,” said Bonner, who finished with a game-high 29 points. “We knew they didn’t really get back and transition to defense well, so when someone got a rebound I just ran and Whitney (Boddie) made some great passes.”

When Florida’s defense adjusted, Auburn made the Gators pay with a steady inside-outside game generated largely by open looks created by Boddie.

Sherell Hobbs made her first eight shots from the field, most coming from jumpers at least 12 feet from the hoop, to pick up 23 points. Boddie finished with 14 points and 11 assists.

The Tigers also got a big boost from 6-foot-7 center KeKe Carrier, one of the lone scoring options off the Auburn bench.

Carrier had 8 points, seven blocks and provided a menacing defensive presence in the post in a season-high 21 minutes.

“We stress that to KeKe every day, to protect the paint,” Bonner said. “I think she scared them from going in there for a while after she got a couple blocks.”

Carrier didn’t scare the Gators from grabbing 22 offensive rebounds on their way to a 39-32 edge on the glass. It was largely the result, Fortner said, of the zone defense Auburn implemented to slow down speedy guard Sha Brooks and toughen up inside on forward Marshae Dotson.

Both players were held in check, as Dotson was largely a non-factor with 13 points and Brooks had just 11 on 3-of-18 shooting.

“We had someone in front of her all day long,” Fortner said.

And if the Tigers keep this up, they’ll be playing in front of more and more fans as the season progresses.

“We heard them the whole game,” Fortner said. “They gave us tremendous energy.”

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