Auburn women drop Winthrop

Auburn connected on 11 3-point field goals and forced 34 turnovers as the Tigers breezed to a 76-33 women’s basketball win over Winthrop Wednesday afternoon in the Auburn Arena.

The loss, Winthrop’s second this week to an SEC team, drops the Eagles to 2-8. Auburn improved to 7-2 and avenged last year’s 56-54 loss in the Winthrop Coliseum.

“I’m just thankful that our murderer’s row part of the schedule is done and that we can continue to get better going forward,” said Winthrop head coach Kevin Cook. “I hope this game does not affect our confidence. We are still a very good ball club and I am not going to stop believing in this group. I hope they keep believing in themselves and we are going to get back to work tomorrow.”

Auburn’s Brandy Montgomery and Katie Frerking connected on five 3-pointers each and combined for 40 points. Montgomery led all scorers with 21 points while Frerking finished with 19. Tra’Cee Tanner was also in double figures with 14 and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Winthrop had its lowest offensive output of the season, and no Eagles finished in double figures. Junior guard Aliyah Kilpatrick led the Eagles with nine points while the team’s leading scorer on the season, Erica Williams, had a tough afternoon. She was held to just two points on 1-of-10 shooting - snapping her 23-game double figure scoring streak - and committed a career-high 13 turnovers.

Using an aggressive zone defense, Auburn held Winthrop to 23.5 percent shooting (12-of-51) and outscored the Eagles 39-16 on points off turnovers. Auburn also made it tough for Winthrop to score inside by blocking nine shots. The Tigers finished the game shooting 45.5 percent from the floor (30-of-66) and were 11-for-27 from behind the 3-point arc.

Winthrop will now prepare to face College of Charleston on Tuesday, Dec. 22 in another afternoon game that will tip off at 2 p.m.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Auburn women drop Winthrop."