02/26 at 11:20 PM

Alli Smalley can handle seeing her face everywhere.

It took a little getting used to, but the reserved Auburn senior guard doesn’t mind seeing the billboards, the bobbleheads and the sides of Tiger Transit buses that all bear her resemblance staring back at her.

“I’m sure every time she saw it, she probably cringed,” Tigers coach Nell Fortner said of Smalley’s media presence. “That’s not what she’s about. She’s so team-oriented and ‘let me just be in the background. I’m going to kick your tail, but let me just be in the background as far as whose face is out front.’

“That’s just Alli. It’s one of her endearing qualities.”

But the commercials and other video promotional materials, the ones where she has to “look tough,” those don’t come as naturally.

She’s still not used to that.

“My first instinct is smile, laugh or something, and they’re not letting us,” Smalley said. “I don’t know how mean mine looks. Mine’s more of, like, a stare.”

The spotlight on the Auburn women’s basketball team has shone brightest on Smalley for the better part of the last two seasons, whether she likes it or not.

From a freshman cracking her way into the starting lineup in her first year on campus, she became the perimeter offense on the SEC regular season title winning team that included DeWanna Bonner and Whitney Boddie as a sophomore.

From a junior that led the Tigers in scoring on a team with only senior, to a preseason All-SEC pick, Auburn’s all-time leader in 3-pointers and the ninth-leading scorer in program history as a senior.

And with the departure of Jordan Greenleaf earlier this year, she’ll be the only Tiger playing her final home game for Auburn (15-13, 8-7, SEC) when the team takes on No. 20 Kentucky (21-7, 10-5) today at 1 p.m.

“Four years have gone by really fast, and it’s crazy to think that it’ll be the last game I play here,” Smalley said. “It’s a bittersweet thing, but also an exciting thing.”

Smalley’s four years on the Plains have included 111 starts – including a string of 106, the second-longest streak in school history – 214 makes from beyond the arc, 1,533 points and 80 wins.

Fortner said she’s enjoyed seeing Smalley’s growth over the past four years.

“Alli’s not a boisterous person. She’s a very humble, dedicated athlete,” Fortner said. “But I’ve seen her confidence blossom each and every year she’s been here, and rightly so. She’s earned every bit of it.”

That confidence has shown itself in Smalley coming out of her shell a little more when it comes to her teammates, adding some “tell” to her “show” in the leadership department.

Sophomore guard Blanche Alverson said Smalley, who was her host on her campus visit two years ago, wasn’t exactly talking her ear off, leaving dead air that the naturally talkative Alverson was more than happy to fill.

“I felt like I had to talk to her the whole time. But now we’re really close. She’s definitely opened up a lot,” Alverson said. “We all look to Alli for her leadership on the floor, just the way she plays. We all want to play well for her. When she’s playing well, we all need to step up our game too.”

Smalley has also seemed to save her best games for the biggest moments over the past two seasons.

She scored a career-high 29 in the Tigers’ 74-61 win over Florida in the first round of the SEC Tournament last year. She scored 19, including 9 straight in a crucial second-half stretch to push the Tigers over Arkansas and stop a three-game skid on Feb. 13.

Thursday night she did it again, tying a season high with 22 points – 16 in the second half – as Auburn topped No. 22 Georgia in Athens for the first time in 18 years, stopping a two-game losing streak and rekindling the Tigers’ NCAA Tournament chances.

Alverson said she “had never heard (Smalley) talk so much in a game” as she did against the Bulldogs.

“That’s probably one of the biggest games of her career,” Fortner said. “When you look at all that was on the line, there were just so many factors going into it. She never lost focus in her eyes. She was such a competitor for 40 minutes.”

She’s a competitor that has seen her points per game drop – from 15.7 to 11.6 – this year as teams maintain a laser like focus on her defensively.

She has seen her team struggle through stretches that have thrown its tournament chances into jeopardy.

Smalley has dealt with this year’s adversity in a way entirely consistent with her character.

“It’s been kind of frustrating, but it’s just one of those things you’ve got to push through,” Smalley said. “You’re not going to get back on top by doing anything but working hard every day and doing the best you can. That’s all we can do, and that’s all we can expect from each other.

“Give our best every time out there.”

| 737-2568