Tigers look for rebound vs. Vandy

By: OANOW STAFF | Opelika Auburn News
Published: February 28, 2008

It’s been 11 days since the Auburn women’s basketball team’s 83-72 win against South Carolina.

That victory gave AU a 6-4 record in Southeastern Conference play and put the Tigers in position to all but clinch an NCAA Tournament berth over their final four regular-season games. Two wins in its final four games would give Auburn an 8-6 SEC record and make it very difficult for the NCAA tourney’s selection committee to overlook the Tigers.

Since that win against South Carolina, though, Auburn (18-9, 6-6 SEC) hasn’t done much to improve its NCAA Tournament resume.

The Tigers have lost their last two games, at Ole Miss and at Georgia, by a combined 20 points. They averaged 21 turnovers in those two losses and were 5-for-30 on 3-pointers.

And with two games remaining, AU is inching closer to the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Tigers must win their final two regular-season games — tonight against Vanderbilt and Sunday against Arkansas — to finish SEC play with a winning record.

So, is Fortner disappointed?

“It’s not about being disappointed,” she said. “It’s about being focused on what you have to do to finish out the season strong.

“We have our work cut out for us now. We have to finish strong down the stretch and work as hard as we can to perform as best we can on the floor.”

Auburn has one advantage over the final two games: Both games are at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

Last week’s two-game losing streak was an excellent reminder of the difficulty of winning on the road in the SEC. The Tigers saw firsthand how difficult it can be to beat a motivated SEC team on its home floor — especially Sunday against Georgia, a team AU beat by 30 points in the teams’ previous meeting in Beard-Eaves.

“The biggest problem (Sunday) was Georgia came out very hungry,” Fortner said. “They were very emotional. They played with an extreme amount of confidence. It kind of knocked us on our heels.”

With her own team facing a similar situation tonight, Fortner wants to see a similar response.

Today’s game begins at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net (Channel 26 in Lee County).

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-2561