AUBURN, Ala. | Shakyla Hill picked up where she left off last season as the senior guard poured in a team-high 18 points as the Grambling State University women's basketball team dropped its season opener to Auburn, 97-48, on Tuesday night at Auburn Arena.
 
Grambling State (0-1) trailed 26-15 after one quarter and were outscored in the second, 18-5, as Auburn took a 44-20 lead into the half. Auburn (1-0) extended the margin to 68-36 after three periods and rolled to a 97-48 victory to earn its first win of the season.

"There were a lot of mistakes tonight. It was evident," Grambling State head coach Freddie Murray said. "We had a few players that did not show up to make this trip. We knew it was going to be ugly early on, but we have some things we can go back and work on. Auburn did a great job of playing their game, playing comfortable and getting what they wanted out of the basketball court. I think what we didn't do tonight is correctable. We can go back and talk about it. Ironically, it was the things we have been talking about all week, but we got in the game and forgot everything we were going over."

Hill, the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Preseason Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, scored 18 points in 34 minutes of play. The Little Rock, Ark. native was 8-of-12 from the line and finished with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Ariel Williams, Hannah Henderson and Markisha Body each registered five points.
 
Robyn Benton and Janiah McKay led six Auburn players in double figures with 16 points apiece. McKay completed the double-double when she dished out a game-high 10 assists. Crystal Primm tallied 15 points, while Unique Thompson registered a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds (10 defensively). Emari Jones and Dasia Alexander recorded 13 points each.

"The rest of the season is going to be tough," Murray said. "That's the way we want it. We don't want any cake teams like a lot of teams in our conference are playing. We want to play the best because at the end of the year, those are the teams you'll see in the tournament. So in order to prepare, we have to play these types of games. We have our first home game on Friday and then go back on the road again and don't have another home game until January. It will prepare us for conference."

Turning Point
Grambling State jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead after a layup by Shakyla Hill with 8:38 left in the opening quarter and led 6-3 after a Hill jumper with 7:52 remaining.
 
However, Grambling State went the nearly five minutes without a bucket from the field and Auburn took advantage with a 16-1 run, capped by an Daisa Alexander layup, to take a 19-7 lead with 3:26 left.
 
GSU closed the margin to 24-15 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Hannah Henderson and Ariel Williams, with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
 
Auburn put the game away in the second quarter by outscoring Grambling State, 18-5, to take a 44-20 lead into the break.

Inside the Numbers
> Grambling State was 15-of-58 (25.9 percent) shooting and 15-of-20 (75.0 percent) from the charity stripe
> Auburn shot 53.5 percent (38-of-71) from the floor and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the free-throw line
> GSU registered 26 rebounds, with 13 coming at both ends of the floor
> Auburn recorded 53 rebounds, including 33 off the defensive glass
> Grambling State finished with 22 points in the paint, 19 points off 18 Auburn turnovers and nine second-chance points
> AU tallied 44 points in the paint, 28 points off 20 GSU turnovers and 28 second-chance points
 
News and Notes
> Tuesday's game was the third meeting between Grambling State and Auburn
> Auburn improved to 3-0 in the all-time series against Grambling State
> Grambling State will just one home game in the 2018 portion of its schedule
> Jazmin Boyd did not make the trip and remains just five points shy of 1,000 for her collegiate career
> Shakyla Hill is the SWAC Preseason Player of the Year and Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
 
Up Next
Grambling State will have its 2018 home opener on Friday as McNeese State comes to town. Tip-off against the Cowgirls is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
 
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