What an inglorious end to a fantastic season for the Auburn women's basketball team, which got crushed in the second round of the NCAA tournament by Rutgers on Monday.

Yes, second-seeded Auburn drew the short end of a stick by having to play on seventh-seeded Rutgers' court. But no homecourt advantage can account for the 28-point margin of victory.

ESPN analyst Kara Lawson pulled no punches in dissing the first No. 2 seed to lose in the tournament: "I'm just so thoroughly disappointed in Auburn's effort," she said, shortly after the game. "That's what you call about going into March like a lion and out like a lamb."

Rutgers (21-12) scored the first nine points to set the tone for what would be a thorough thumping. The Scarlet Knights led 22-4. That's a tough hole to dig out of.

Epiphanny Prince scored 27 points to win the battle of stars, out-shining Auburn's DeWanna Bonner, who had 17.

The Scarlet Knights simply out-played the Tigers, shooting 53.7 percent from the field.

Auburn missed 52 shots -- fifty-two! -- shooting 27.8 percent (20-for-72). It was 2-for-13 from 3-point range (15.4 percent).

Bonner was 5-for-15 from the field. Whitney Boddie 4-for-14 shooting. Sherell Hobbs was 4-for-15. Alli Smalley played 29 minutes and scored 4 points on 2-for-11 shooting. Nobody shot the ball well and, as the tournament proves year in and year out, one bad night will sink you.

The Tigers finished the season 30-4. Can't take anything away from them for that, but this certainly is a sour way to end things.