Auburn advances in women's NCAA Tournament
Janiah McKay scored 24 points to lead Auburn to a 68-57 win over St. John’s in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Janiah McKay scored a season-high 24 points and a stifling Auburn defense forced 25 turnovers as the ninth-seeded Tigers beat eighth-seed St. John’s 68-57 Friday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
It’s Auburn’s first NCAA win since 2009.
“I'm just really happy for them. They worked real hard,” Terri Williams-Flournoy said of her players. “I'm the one that pushes them. They're the ones that do the work. It's just great for our Auburn women's basketball program to get back to the NCAA Tournament and get our first win in the NCAA Tournament.”
Auburn, which improved to 20-12, jumped out to an early 25-6 lead in the second quarter as the Tigers collected seven steals in the first half.
“We knew we had to get out with momentum and that just really kept us going,” said McKay, who shot 9 of 14 from the floor and added four assists and three steals. “It was definitely our defense that did it for us. That's what got us here. We are going to keep playing defense like Auburn basketball does.”
St. John’s was able to cut Auburn’s lead down to three points with 6 minutes left in the third quarter but a McKay 3-pointer at the end of the quarter extended the lead to 44-35.
Jazmine Jones added 13 points and three steals for the Tigers, which shot 46.6 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Red Storm 34-28. Auburn scored 32 of its points off of turnovers.
“I can't even begin to tell you how excited and proud I am of my young ladies to come out and play defense as impressive as they did,” Williams-Flournoy said. “It goes to show you how much they have bought into our defense and how they've continued to play it day in, day out and how we knew we had to get after St. John's today.”
Auburn improves to 30-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have won 17 of their last 18 opening-round games.
St. John’s finished 23-10. Danaejah Grant led the Red Storm with 25 points including 4 of 6 3-pointers.
Auburn will play No. 1 seed Baylor in the second round Sunday at 6 p.m. CT.