Senior Alli Smalley scored a team-high 15 points, followed by a career-high 13 from freshman Jassany Williams as the Auburn women’s basketball team (3-4) pulled out a 75-70 win over in-state rival South Alabama (3-4).

The win was the 24th win in a row for the Tigers over the Jaguars.

Auburn led by 11 at the half, but saw the lead slip away with South Alabama taking the lead with 14:03 left in the game. The Tigers bounced back, building its lead back to 10 before taking the 5-point win.

“It went down to the wire, but we did good job of knocking down free throws at the end of the game,” said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. “I am really disappointed in how we came out in the second half. I really thought we were ready, we did a good job talking about what we needed to do in the locker room. I thought that group we started with would come out and play, but I probably left them in a little too long.”

Auburn used a 10-player rotation with everyone that played accounting for at least 11 minutes of action. Only senior Jordan Greenleaf, who played 32 minutes, topped the 30-minute mark. With the rotation, Auburn was able to get use out of its bench, out-scoring the South Alabama bench, 33-14.

“There is no question this could be a good thing when we get into the groove of the substitutions,” said Fortner.

The Tigers again used their defense to pull out the win, using nine steals to force 17 South Alabama turnovers, scoring 17 points off the turnovers. The Tigers also blocked six shots.

Senior Jordan Greenleaf led Auburn on the blocks, pulling down a game-high nine rebounds with her 11 points. She also tallied two blocks and a team-high three steals.

Also scoring in double figures was point guard Morgan Toles. She came off the bench for the second game in a row, tallying 10 points and a game-high five assists.

Auburn will return to action with a Saturday home game against Temple. The game will precede the SEC Football Championship game with fans able to view the football game on the HD video boards at the arena after the game.