The victories have been so plentiful and mostly one-sided that the Auburn women’s basketball team is now holding itself to higher standards.

There was nothing pretty, smooth or extravagant about the No. 6 Tigers’ 72-65 victory over Ole Miss on Thursday at a relatively deadened Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum – and they weren’t exactly thrilled about it.

The 3,266 fans in attendance made the 40-year-old arena seem more like the Ralph Brown Draughon Library compared to the atmosphere of the Tigers’ last home game, when a record-setting 12,000-plus took in Auburn’s victory over Tennessee.

That win, the crowning moment so far of Auburn’s nearly flawless regular-season run, could be considered pretty.

As for Thursday’s? Not quite.

“I didn’t think we played a very good game,” coach Nell Fortner said. “At this point in time, a home game, and we’re heading down the stretch of the SEC, I was just expecting a little bit better effort.”

There was little fanfare when the buzzer sounded on Auburn’s 22nd win of the season. Fortner, who gave her team the day off Tuesday, addressed her concerns with them for more than 15 minutes following Thursday’s game.

“There wasn’t too much positive to say,” DeWanna Bonner said. “It wasn’t a great performance.”

“Not great” was still good enough for Auburn to skirt by and stay atop the SEC with a 7-1 record against conference opponents.

The Tigers largely coasted through the first half, turning the ball over 10 times and rarely seized opportunities to push the tempo — the team’s trademark.

Point guard Whitney Boddie had four of those turnovers and Fortner uncharacteristically emptied her bench early in the action. Reneisha Hobbs’ and Chantel Hillard’s contributions were certainly beneficial, but the duo did not add much early to the Tigers’ sluggish attack.

“We have to come out stronger,” said Bonner, who led Auburn with 23 points. “We need to get more focused as a team right now. It’s not preseason anymore; it’s the end of the season so it gets tougher.”

Auburn toughened up in the second half, but Ole Miss survived the body blows.

Back-to-back Alli Smalley 3-pointers highlighted a 16-3 Auburn run to start the half, which put the Tigers up by 12. But Ole Miss put the pressure right back on the Tigers with a 14-2 counter-run, thanks largely to Bianca Thomas, who hit three 3’s during the stretch on her way to a game-high 28 points.

“Was that when Bianca Thomas went off?” Fortner said when asked about the run. “It was a mental breakdown for us because there is no way that she should have been that open to hit those shots.”

The Tigers didn’t exactly snatch control back, but “they made plays at the end and Ole Miss did not,” as Rebels coach Renee Ladner said.

Boddie scored all 8 of her points in the final seven minutes, including a fastbreak layup with 31 seconds to play – the closest resemblance to an exclamation point on the relatively dull night.

“Right now we’re just trying to get through this,” Fortner said. “We’ll get through it and come out on the other side just fine. We just have to weather the storm right now.”

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