BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Senior guard Alexus Holt registered a team-high 21 points as the Grambling State University women's basketball team dropped a road game to Southeastern Athletic Conference (SEC) opponent, Auburn, 82-58 at the Auburn Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
Holt connected on 8-of-23 of her field goals, including 2-of-8 from three-point range. She also tallied five rebounds with three assists and two steals.
 
Justice Coleman also scored in double-figures, racking up 10 points to go with four rebounds and one steal.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Coleman got the Lady Tigers on the board first with a three-pointer. Ciera Ellington gave nailed a jumper less the 30 seconds later, giving GSU (2-7) an early 5-0 lead with 9:11 to go in the first period.
• After Auburn (7-3) jumped ahead 6-5, GSU once again regained the lead when Ellington converted a layup. Holt followed that up a fast-break bucket of her own, putting the Lady Tigers on top 9-6 at the 4:52 mark.
• Grambling State snagged its final lead of the contest, 13-12, on an Ashanti Lavergne layup with 2:19 left in the first quarter
• The second quarter was another close affair, with Auburn outscoring GSU 19-15. The Lady Tigers trailed by as many as 13, but whittled the AU lead to 38-30 heading into the half.
• Grambling State shot the ball well in the first half, shooting 44.5 percent (13-of-29). However, Auburn shot an even higher percentage, going 14-for-25 from the field (56.0 percent).
• Auburn seized control of the contest on the third period. After Kaci Chairs knocked a jumper down with 5:51 left in the third frame, to keep GSU within nine (45-36), AU closed out the period on 13-3 run, carrying a 58-38 lead in to the fourth.
• Auburn maintained its distance in the final quarter, securing the 82-58 win.

  INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Grambling State shot 23-of-59 from the field (39.0 percent)
• Auburn went 29-of-55 on field goal attempts (52.7 percent)
• GSU connected on 4-of-16 shots from three-point range (25.0 percent)
• AU drained 4-of-11 from behind the arc (36.4 percent)
• GSU hit on 66.7 percent of its free throws (8-of-12)
• Auburn sank 20-of-30 attempts from the free-throw line (66.7 percent)
• Grambling State was outrebounded 36-27
• GSU scored 10 points off of 16 turnovers
• AU tallied 16 points on 19 turnovers
• Auburn outscored Grambling State 15-11 in fast-break points
• AU held a 36-14 advantage in bench points
• Auburn led GSU in second-chance points 10-3
• GSU was outscored 46-34 on points in the paint

 UP NEXT
Grambling State travels to Birmingham, Ala to square off against the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Tuesday Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. at the Bartow Arena.
 
FOLLOW GRAMBLING STATE ATHLETICS
For complete coverage of Grambling State athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @GSU_Tigers (Twitter), /gsu_tigers1 (Facebook), @gramblingathletics (Instagram) or visit the official home of Grambling State Athletics at gsutigers.com.