HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana cut a 25-point second-quarter deficit to six late in the fourth quarter but Auburn held on for an 80-68 non-conference win in the University Center Monday night.
 
The Lady Lions (0-2) trailed 35-10 with 7:07 left in the first half and were still down 65-50 going into the fourth. But Southeastern held Auburn (2-0) without a field goal over the first 5:24 of the final period to get to within 66-60 on Taylin Underwood's fifth 3-pointer with 4:46 remaining.
 
"They just came out and played like they wanted to win," Southeastern head coach Yolanda Moore said of her team's play in the fourth quarter. "At halftime, we told them this is when you find out what you are made of. You have to come out and play one possession at a time. I thought we did some great things defensively in that second half to cut that lead down. Auburn is a talented SEC team and they did what we knew they were going to do. They were going to come out and play tough defense and they were going to keep the pressure on."
 
Underwood finished with career highs of 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists while tying a career-best with six 3-pointers. Nanna Pool added a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Lady Lions shot 37.9 percent for the game and out-rebounded Auburn 41-37.
 
"We told them the key to the game was we had to block out and rebound," Moore said. "They were tough inside. All I ask of them is that they fight to the end, regardless of the score and who we are playing. That they come out to play to win and fight to the buzzer goes off and that's what they did tonight."
 
Auburn had four players finish in double figures, led by Brandy Montgomery with 22 points. Tra'Cee Tanner contributed 16 points, Janiah McKay 14 and Katie Frerking 13. Frerking also had a team-high six rebounds and six assists. The Lady Tigers shot 43.3 percent while committing just 10 turnovers with 14 assists.
 
A pair of 3-pointers by Underwood helped Southeastern cut the deficit to single figures at 66-57 with 5:12 remaining. After a defensive stop, Underwood knocked down another 3 to make it 66-60 with 4:46 left. Auburn got its first field goal of the quarter on a drive by Montgomery at the 4:36 mark, then got two more layups by Frerking and McKay to go back up by 12 at 76-64 with 2:02 remaining.
 
A pair of 3s by Frerking and Montgomery gave Auburn an early 6-0 lead. Underwood tied it with two 3s of her own at the 6:52 mark. After the Tigers regained a 10-6 lead behind a 3 by Montgomery, Pool scored off a putback and Underwood found Peaches Anderson for a layup to tie it again with 4:50 left in the opening quarter.
 
But Auburn countered with a 15-0 run to end the quarter as Tanner scored a pair of buckets inside and Montgomery knocked down a 3 before taking a steal in in the final seconds to give Auburn a 25-10 lead.
 
The Tigers kept the run going as the second quarter opened, taking their biggest lead of the half at 35-10 on a Khady Dieng putback with 7:07 left. Erica Hernandez got Southeastern back on the board with two free throws with 6:46 left. Bre Warren then hit a 3 and Pool hit a short jumper to make it 35-17 at the 4:53 mark.
 
After another Pool jumper cut the deficit to 37-21 with 3:46 left, Auburn built a 44-23 lead on a McKay layup at the 1:33 mark. A pair of Dani Fielder free throws made it 46-27 at the half.
 
Chey Stewart scored inside to make it 48-29 early in the third quarter. But a putback by Jessica Jones forced Southeastern to use a timeout with 7:24 left in the period with Auburn up 52-29.
 
The Lady Lions used a 10-2 run to pull to get to within 15 midway through the quarter. Anderson hit a 3, then  after tossing in a jumper after a long rebound, grabbed a steal and found Underwood in the left corner for another 3. Pool scored inside to make it 56-41 with 4:02 left in the third.
 
Stewart scored off an Underwood pass and Warren knocked down a 3 from the right wing to pull Southeastern to within 62-50 with 27 seconds left. But McKay converted a three-point play with 3 seconds left to make it 65-50 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
"Taylin Underwood had a great game for us on both sides of the basketball," Moore said. "She made some things happen. Nanna Pool did a good job. If we could have gotten a few more stops and made some more baskets and hadn't dug ourselves such a huge hole, we would have been a little bit closer in the end. But when you cut a 25-point lead down to six against a team like this, I'm proud of them. Obviously it's not the outcome we wanted but I am proud of our kids for showing such resolve."
 
Southeastern opens a four-game road swing at Georgia Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m.