It was too little, too late.

Auburn fell in a 17-5 hole after the first quarter and despite its best efforts, a comeback attempt came up short against Georgia Tech Wednesday. The Tigers dropped the game 57-51, their first loss of the season.

"I just thought we came out passive, we didn’t come out aggressive," head coach Johnnie Harris said. "There’s no good part in losing, but to see the hurt in them — I didn't see that last year — so I feel like they will take this and grow from it."

Honesty Scott-Grayson and Aicha Coulibaly led Auburn in scoring, with 11 points a piece, while Mya Pratcher scored six and grabbed 10 rebounds in her return to the lineup.

Auburn's first quarter was an offensive disaster. Scott-Grayson made a 3-pointer on the first shot attempt, which was the lone make from the field. The only other points came from a pair of Coulibaly free-throws.

Auburn shot 1-for-18 from the field in the first quarter and trailed 17-5 after one.

The offense seemingly arrived in the second quarter, as Auburn put up 20 points before halftime. Outscoring Georgia Tech 20-15 in the second brought the game within striking distance, a seven-point deficit at the midway point.

The Tigers looked their best defensively in the third, holding the Yellow Jackets to 11 points and slicing the deficit in half once more to 43-40.

“We beat them in just about every category except 3-pointers, free-throws; but everything else I thought we caught up," Harris said. "We can’t wait that long to make a move. We got to come out imposing our will, especially at home."

To begin the fourth, Auburn went on a 4-0 run, grabbing its first lead of the game. The lead was short lived, as Georgia Tech fired back a 10-2 run and eliminated most of Auburn's momentum.

"They were getting to the hole," Harris said on what was working for Georgia Tech. "We were still getting to the hole as well, we just missed layups. We missed, I don’t know how many layups, there in the fourth quarter. We got what we wanted, we just didn’t capitalize on it and I think [Georgia Tech] did."

Georgia Tech's lead grew to as many as seven in the fourth, and the Yellow Jackets outlasted Auburn to avenge last year's loss.

Auburn's next game is at home against Alabama State on Sunday, with tip-off set for 2 p.m. CT.