Three days later, Auburn women’s basketball coach Nell Fortner and the Tigers’ most reliable veteran, Alli Smalley, were still beaming about Sunday’s upset victory at No. 12 LSU.

The conference season is only three games old, yes, and the expectedly treacherous road doesn’t all of a sudden get easier because of a single victory. But this one meant just a little more when the big picture is factored into the equation.

Consider this: Half the players who helped Auburn overcome a 7-point deficit with less than 2 minutes remaining, only to hold strong for 5 more minutes of overtime in the 64-62 victory had never before won an SEC game.

“That’s something the freshmen have to learn,” Smalley said. ”Even preseason is totally different than the SEC season. It’s so much more competitive night in and night out, and the competition is so much higher, so I think the freshmen have to learn that.

“And as a team, as we mesh together, we’ve got to learn that.”

The learning process continues at 6 tonight at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, when Auburn hosts Alabama — a team still searching for that elusive first conference victory.

It’s certainly made a world of difference for Auburn.

“It’s just good for your team’s confidence,” Fortner said. “I think it helped our team see some things more clear about what we need to do on the floor at both ends of the floor and it helped us become a little bit better basketball team.”

Really, the reward for good basketball came one game late.

Auburn’s heartbreaking loss at Florida on Thursday saw the Tigers play with unseen cohesiveness and resiliency. After trailing by 18 at the half, the Tigers limited the Gators to just 19 points while catching fire on offense to send the game into overtime. That tough play continued into the first and second overtimes, where Florida had just a bit more energy to escape with a victory.

“I think we learned a lot,” Fortner said. “It paid off.”

Perhaps the most expedited learner has been freshman point guard Morgan Toles, one of four freshmen among Auburn’s eight healthy players.

Toles has been a starter since her first game in an Auburn uniform and has been forced to learn on the fly. There have been typical warts — 47 turnovers, 44 percent free-throw percentage — but there has also been untypical leadership.

Toles has combined that leadership with production in her first three conference games, as she’s averaged 13.6 points and 4.6 assists while netting nearly 40 minutes per game.

“She doesn’t play like a freshman,” Smalley said. “Her confidence is so high and she’s just got the competitive spirit. She wants to win and she knows what it takes.”

Fortner would certainly love to have more than eight players, but the shorthanded life has made establishing chemistry a necessity, not a choice.
Less has been more in that aspect, and it’s been embraced.

A sign that reads “It only takes eight” currently hangs in the Auburn locker room.

“I think we’re getting used to it,” Smalley said. “We’re meshing and learning to play together really well.”

| 737-2561