In the third quarter, Mar'Shaun Bostic had a wide open lane for a fast break layup.

Bostic missed her gimme layup, Tennessee snagged the rebound and fired off a 3-pointer on the other end of the court. It sank through the net, just as Auburn had sunk itself in the second half.

The Tigers were up by eight at halftime, but a poor second half performance led to Auburn dropping its sixth straight SEC opener, this time 75-67 to Tennessee.

"I thought in the second half, we didn’t come out with that same intensity, with that same hunger," said head coach Johnnie Harris.

Things looked reasonable for the home team early on. There wasn't panic after Auburn fell behind to start, as the Tigers rattled off a run to take a 17-10 lead in the first. Tennessee then closed the gap with an 8-0 run, but Auburn finished the quarter in front 21-20.

Auburn held Tennessee scoreless for three minutes to start the second, building its lead to as large as 11 before heading to halftime up eight.

Everything fell apart for Auburn in the third, as Tennessee shot 60% from the field in the quarter, outscoring the Tigers 22-8 and taking a six-point lead into the fourth.

"We missed shots, we missed layups, they go down and hit a three," Harris said. "Those little things were really hard for us to overcome. We made some mistakes execution wise that we shouldn’t make."

Honesty Scott-Grayson and Bostic, two veterans, tried to will the team to a comeback in the fourth, as the two combined for 15 of the Tigers' 17 fourth-quarter points. Scott-Grayson was the team's leading scorer, with 16 points, while Bostic turned in a season-high 15 points.

Auburn will next travel to Texas A&M for a 3 p.m. CST tipoff Jan. 7 on the SEC Network.

"The mistakes we made can be corrected," Harris said. "I feel like this team has a big upside."