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Coates leads No. 2 South Carolina past Auburn, 74-58

Jan 22, 2016 - 3:09 AM AUBURN, Ala. (AP) The South Carolina Gamecocks didn't let a little shooting funk slow them down.

Alaina Coates scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the second-ranked Gamecocks to a 74-58 win over Auburn on Thursday night.

South Carolina (18-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) weathered an early drought and wound up with a lopsided win after surviving a 59-58 scare against Texas A&M.

''This team has seen everybody's best and we've prepared ourselves to seeing people's best, especially in the first quarter,'' South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. ''We just have to do a better job of completing 40 minutes of pretty good play.''

They had more than enough good play to withstand Auburn's early challenge.

The Tigers (12-7, 2-4) struggled after briefly taking a five-point lead in the first half with a 12-0 run.

Coates made 8 of 10 shots for her ninth double-double in points and rebounds before heading to the bench midway through the fourth quarter.

Tiffany Mitchell added 13 points and five assists, Tina Roy scored 12 and A'ja Wilson 11. Wilson didn't need to match her huge game against the Aggies when she had 26 points, eight rebounds and eight blocked shots. Coates, who had five points in that game, picked up much of the slack inside, where Auburn had no answer.

''We came out in the second quarter looking to push the tempo a little bit, looking to generate some offense from our defense, and I think we did that,'' Staley said. ''We got good looks on the inside. We knocked down a couple of 3s. We just got in the groove and it felt good just kind of widening our lead.''

Katie Frerking led Auburn with 17 points. Janiah McKay scored all 10 of her points during that first-half Tigers run.

Auburn couldn't overcome a significant size advantage against Coates, Wilson & Co.

''A tough matchup,'' Tigers coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. ''They're big inside. We changed a few things to try to stop the inside game, but at the end of the day you're not going to stop that inside game.''

The Gamecocks closed the first half on an 18-0 run to build a 33-20 lead after falling behind briefly. Auburn missed its final 13 shots and went 8:26 without scoring before Brandy Montgomery's 3-pointer early in the second half.

Despite also going cold for a chunk of the first half, South Carolina still shot 27 of 52 (51.9 percent).

Auburn's two leading scorers, Montgomery and Tra'Cee Tanner, were held in check. Montgomery scored seven points on 2-of-11 shooting and Tanner had nine after picking up three first-half fouls.

''The second quarter, they outscored us 20-5,'' Williams-Flournoy said. ''That's the game right there.''

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LONG DROUGHTS

South Carolina went 8:29 without a field goal in the first half, missing nine straight. Roy snapped the drought with a 3-pointer three minutes into the second quarter. Auburn responded with an even longer basketless stretch.

TIP INS

South Carolina: Won its fourth straight over Auburn. ... The bench scored 27 points led by Roy.

Auburn: Has lost four of last five games, four of them against teams ranked in the Top 12 at the time. Made 19 of 55 shots (34.5 percent).

UP NEXT

South Carolina: at Mississippi State Sunday.

Auburn: hosts Arkansas Sunday.