TUSCALOOSA — Trailing by 12 points with 5:12 left in the game, the Auburn women’s basketball team (12-12, 3-8 SEC) shutout in-state rival Alabama (10-14, 2-9 SEC) for the remainder of the game, rattling off 10 unanswered points, but it would not be enough as the Crimson…

The reputation Alli Smalley established over the first two years of her Auburn career has defenses feeling like they have her figured out.

The call was debatable.

The last time the Auburn women’s basketball team came off a big win against a highly ranked team, it had perennial bottom-dweller Alabama on its schedule.

Nell Fortner was already aware of it, but a reminder about the interesting statistic Auburn acquired after its upset over No. 9 Georgia had her thinking both reflectively and forwardly.

The Auburn women’s basketball team’s daunting stretch against four consecutive ranked teams got a whole lot tougher, in Nell Fortner’s opinion, when No. 9 Georgia lost Thursday.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Playing in front of a crowd of 12,353 at Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena, Auburn (11-10, 2-6 SEC) fell, 85-56, Thursday night to the fifth-ranked Lady Vols(18-2, 6-1). Alli Smalley scored a game-high 21 points in the loss, her fourth 20-point game…

Intertwined with all the football regalia, a massive panoramic picture taken from the upper deck of Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum hangs inside the Auburn Athletic Complex, serving as the everlasting artifact from arguably the most important game in Auburn women’s basketball…