After a hard-fought victory over the #4 Lady Vols, head coach Johnnie Harris‘ Auburn women’s basketball team got their first SEC win of the season and the first Top-5 win since 1997. The team snapped a 38-game losing streak to AP Top-5 opponents and a seven-game losing streak on the season.
Auburn women’s basketball beat the Lady Vols 71-61 in Auburn Arena and celebrated with the Jungle after students rushed the court led by Dylan Cardwell of Bruce Pearl’s squad. Also present to support the women were Jabari Smith, Wendell Green, KD Johnson, and Lior Berman.
Men’s basketball assistant coaches Steven Pearl and Wes Flanigan showed their support for Johnnie Harris and the women’s team, as well:
Watch out for Auburn! It’s becoming a everything school! Great administration and Great athletics staff! War Damn https://t.co/IVmcUahAlc
— Coach Wes Flanigan (@CoachFlanigan) January 28, 2022
LETS GOOOOOO https://t.co/9c1mSsYzKe
— Steven Pearl (@StevenPearl22) January 28, 2022
Just as they do following a men’s basketball victory, Auburn Twitter was quick to react to the win by flooding the Lady Vols’ Twitter account with memes celebrating the Tigers’ victory:
— bleach demon (@katethegreat27) January 28, 2022
— Sports Illustrated's Auburn Elvis (@AuburnElvis) January 28, 2022
— Shia (@ShiaLaBarner) January 28, 2022
— Ozzie (@CousinOzzie) January 28, 2022
After many tough losses this season for Auburn women’s basketball, Johnnie Harris described how proud she is of her team, per AL.com:
"“Really proud of this team,” Harris said. “We’ve been right there in so many ballgames, and we’ve been talking to them about finishing…. We talk about, ‘You need to bust through that wall. You need to finish that. Once you feel, once you experience what it feels like to go ahead and break through and win that ballgame and give me everything you have for four quarters, then you’ll understand that it’s really not insurmountable; it’s doable. For them to finally be able to get through and persevere, I’m just really happy. I’m happy for them. I’m happy for our fans that were here.”"
With a huge conference win under their belts, the time is now for Auburn fans and students to show up to the Arena to support Coach Harris and the women’s team. They have shown that they are not afraid, and they are certainly not backing down against high-caliber opponents.
Auburn women’s basketball will hit the road to face off against Vanderbilt this Sunday, with tip-off at 2:00 p.m.