AUBURN, Ala. — Alli Smalley handled the outside scoring. KeKe Carrier took care of things inside.

It proved to be a winning formula for the Auburn women’s basketball team again Thursday in a 74-62 victory against Alabama at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

Smalley scored a career-high 27 points and Carrier added 20 points and nine rebounds as Auburn (11-6, 2-2 SEC) built off Sunday’s upset at No. 11 LSU, winning its second straight in league play.

It extended Auburn’s winning streak to eight games against its in-state rival, the longest by either team in the history of the series.

“I’m just glad that we’ve got the eight,” joked Tigers coach Nell Fortner, who improved to 10-1 all-time against the Crimson Tide. “I don’t know really what to say about that. We just try to win every game we play.”

Celiscia Farmer scored 18 for Alabama (8-9, 0-4 SEC), which is 2-44 in league games since the start of the 2006-07 season.

Auburn’s inside-out duo made sure that misery continued. Smalley, whose previous career-best was 23 points, scored 16 in the first half as the Tigers built a 43-30 lead.

She set a new high with a 3-pointer, her fourth of the game, with 3:30 remaining that stretched Auburn’s lead to 18.
“I think she enjoys playing against Alabama,” Fortner said of the Arab, Ala., native. “I’m glad she does.”

The 6-foot-7 Carrier, meanwhile, was a force down low. The reigning SEC Player of the Week went 9-for-11 from the floor, despite taking what Fortner considered too much of a beating from Alabama defenders.

“Do you see another post player on the floor that gets pounded like her?” Fortner asked. “I’m serious. I’m not even trying to be funny. ... It’s really unbelievable. The good thing is she’s responded to it all year and still has been able to score.”

Carrier, who has been inconsistent throughout her five years on the Plains, thinks she wouldn’t have stayed as composed in years past.

“By now I’m pretty much used to it,” she said. “I just have to have that mind set: I know they’re going to hang on me; I’ve just got to go up there and finish it and be strong and be dominant in the post.”

Tigers guard Morgan Jennings got her first action since tearing her ACL during the summer. The sophomore played five minutes and scored one point.

Forward Jordan Greenleaf grabbed eight rebounds, including the 500th of her career.