AUBURN, Ala. – The Alabama State University women's basketball team opened its season inside Neville Arena on Monday evening, taking on the Southeastern Conference's Auburn Tigers, who topped the Hornets, 84-35, in a non-conference battle to open the 2026-27 season.
The Hornets (0-1 overall) got off to a strong start, staying even with its top tier opponent through the opening ten minutes, but the Tigers (1-0) dominated both ends the final three periods for its first win of its own campaign.
The first quarter of action saw the Hornets fall behind 8-2, but stellar defense and improved scoring efforts from guards
Caylee Simpson and
Londyn Walker gave them a three-point lead late in the first quarter while the visitors came out with a one-point advantage at the conclusion of the opening period.
Continued defense kept the two teams within one possession well into the next quarter, but the Tigers surged ahead by connecting on five of its next six field goals as it took a 10-point lead two minutes later. Its lead continued to grow as Auburn had more efficient shots and started limiting its turnovers as it was a 44-21 lead at the half.
Auburn emerged from the locker room on a 7-0 run, and even changing lineups couldn't throw the Tigers off. It also didn't help that Simpson and Walker, its two leading scorers up to that point, were roped into foul trouble by AU, as the home squad dialed up its active and pressuring defense to pull away in the end.
"We need to keep preparing our young kids; we have five freshman, which later in the game, I let them play big minutes," second-year head coach
Johnetta Hayes noted on her willingness to utilize the team's depth. "[Our goal is] to try and to get them prepared, so they can have opportunities."
The Hornets did just that tonight, diving almost all the way into the end of the bench in her first opportunity to test her second Hornets team in regular season, going 12 deep in the first half alone.
The ASU scoring was led by Walker (9) and Simpson (7), with the latter connecting on her only three-point attempt while going a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
Charlese McClendon, who is the team's leading returning rebounder, pulled down five boards in 20 minutes of action.
The Lady Hornets have five days to regroup before its next outing, a battle with West Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. inside The Coliseum. It returns home to the Joe L. Reed Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Tuesday, November 10, with a game against the Talladega Tornadoes. Tipoff time in Montgomery is set for 5 p.m.
