When freshman center Cassie Moore began her first season at Auburn last November, AU head coach Nell Fortner wasn’t expecting immediate results.

After all, the 6-foot-4 Moore spent most of her high school career outside of the paint, shooting jumpers. A physical, Southeastern Conference-ready inside game wasn’t one of her strengths.

But from the start of the preseason, Fortner wasted no time planting Moore in the post, knowing the payoff would come in the future.

“We knew it was probably going to be February until it all kicked in for her,” Fortner said Sunday.

It all kicked in right on schedule Sunday against Mississippi State, aided by the Bulldogs’ undersized lineup.

Moore had the best game of her young career in Auburn’s 68-42 win, scoring a season-best 17 points. Not bad for a freshman who entered the game averaging 2.2 points and 9.4 minutes per game.

Mississippi State fields one of the SEC’s smallest lineups: The Bulldogs’ tallest starter was 6-foot-1.

That came as a surprise to Moore.

“I didn’t know I was going to have such a height advantage,” she said. “I knew they were smaller, but I didn’t realize they were so (small).

“It felt different. I felt more comfortable coming out and playing than I’ve felt all year.”

Moore spent the week taking extra instruction on her post moves from assistant coach Daedra Charles-Furlow. The additional work paid off.

“I was really proud how she responded today,” Fortner said. “She was a good presence inside, and we need that presence.”

“It’s always fun to get out and play,” said Moore, who played a season-high 19 minutes. “We were expecting to win, to beat Mississippi State, and we had the confidence.”

The win is the second in a row for Auburn (15-6, 3-3), which plays at Florida on Wednesday and at South Carolina next Sunday. The Tigers need all the momentum they can get.

“We’ve got a tough two games ahead of us,” Fortner said. “Every game on the road in this league is tough. … We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Sunday, AU opened with a dominant defensive effort, outscoring MSU 19-4 in a critical first-half stretch to put the game away. Auburn was equally strong on defense in the second half, holding the Bulldogs to 4 points in the first 14 minutes after halftime.

MSU (14-8, 2-5 SEC) rallied to score 16 points in the final five minutes against Auburn’s reserves, a run Fortner termed a “scoring rampage.” Though the result was never in doubt, Fortner was unhappy with her bench’s performance down the stretch.

“You cannot play a basketball game for 35 minutes,” Fortner said. “That’s just not good. We did not do anything in the last 5 minutes to become a better basketball team.”

Auburn’s DeWanna Bonner had 15 points and 13 rebounds, her ninth double-double of the season and the 25th of her career.

Marneshia Richard led MSU with 12 points.

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