| AUBURN, Ala. (AP) _ Chantelle Anderson
hit a jumper in the lane with five seconds left as No.
17 Vanderbilt erased a 21-point second-half deficit and
beat Auburn 67-66 Thursday night.
The Commodores (13-6, 3-3 Southeastern Conference)
nearly the entire game but pulled within one on a 3-pointer
by Ashley McElhiney with 39 seconds left. Anderson,
who scored all 16 of her points in the second half,
stole the ball with 17 seconds left and gave the Commodores
their first lead.
Le'Coe Willingham missed a layup at the end for Auburn
(14-5, 2-4). She scored a game-high 19 points. Natasha
Brackett added 16.
The Tigers opened the game with a 23-2 run, led by
two 3-pointers apiece from Brackett and Willingham.
The Commodores cut the lead to 27-12, then closed the
half on an 8-3 run to trail 30-20 at the break.
Willingham and Brackett traded baskets to push the
lead back to 16, and the Tigers gradually built a 53-32
lead with 8:52 left.
That's when Anderson and Vanderbilt's defense took
over. Anderson hit eight of eight free throws and made
two jump shots during a 5:42 span, during which the
Commodores held to Auburn to only one field goal and
pulled to within 61-57 with 3:10 to play.
Jenni Benningfield scored 16 points for Vanderbilt.
Abi Ramsey added 12 points.
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