Auburn Defeats Southeast Elite

Women’s college basketball

From the depths of Friday’s first round, a night usually reserved for also-rans, the Auburn Tigers (21-9) emerged Monday in Chattanooga, Tenn., as champions of the toughest women’s basketball conference in the country.

“The top 10’s not so tough,” Auburn coach Joe Ciampi said after his 19th-ranked team downed Florida 52-47 to win the Southeastern Conference tournament and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. “I say that tongue in cheek, believe me,” he added.

He could have justified saying it seriously after the Tigers beat Mississippi, then-No. 4 Georgia, then-No. 8 Tennessee and No. 6 Florida (21-8) to become the first team to win the tournament after playing in the first round.

Other teams with automatic bids are St. Joseph’s (Atlantic 10), Harvard (Ivy League), Liberty (Big South), Marshall (Southern), North Carolina (Atlantic Coast), Old Dominion (Colonial), St. Peter’s (Metro Atlantic), San Francisco (West Coast) and Stanford (Pac-10).