Cooper scores 18, Barker adds 17 to help No. 23 Lady Vols beat Auburn 73-56

Audio By Carbonatix

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Talaysia Cooper scored 18 points, Janiah Barker had 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and No. 23 Tennessee beat Auburn 73-56 on Sunday.

Cooper made 7 of 12 from the field, and Barker was 6-for-10 shooting and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for Tennessee (10-3, 2-0 SEC).

Khady Leye scored 14 points on 7 of 14 shooting for Auburn (11-5, 0-2). The rest of the Tigers combined to shoot 29% (15 of 51) from the field.

Tennessee made 7 of 14 from the field, 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and limited the Tigers to 16% (3 of 19) shooting in the first quarter to take a 22-9 lead into the second.

Mia Pauldo, Mya Pauldo and Cooper each hit a 3-pointer before Barker made two free throws to cap an 11-2 run to close the first, and the Lady Vols scored 12 of the final 16 second-quarter points to make it 41-26 at halftime. Barker scored the first eight points in a 12-1 spurt over the final 3:34 of the third quarter.

The Tigers trailed by double figures throughout the second half.

Tennessee committed a season-high 25 turnovers.

The Lady Vols lead the all-time series with Auburn 51-12.

Tennessee: Visits Mississippi State on Thursday.

Auburn: Visits No. 2 Texas on Thursday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball.