Pink Game: Auburn women host Missouri Thursday night

Feb. 14, 2018

AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn women's basketball team closes out a three-game homestand by hosting 13th-ranked Missouri at 6 p.m. Thursday for the annual Play4Kay Pink Game.

The Tigers will wear pink uniforms, and fans are encouraged to wear pink as Auburn highlights breast cancer awareness and research. Pink t-shirts and shakers will be available for the first 500 fans. In addition, fans can receive free general admission by presenting a ticket from Wednesday's men's basketball game against Kentucky.

Auburn (13-11, 4-8 SEC) is 10-2 at home this season and has won two straight games, defeating LSU 70-62 last Thursday and Vanderbilt 63-60 on Monday night. The Tigers are 4-2 at Auburn Arena in SEC play with wins over Florida and Alabama as well.

A win over Missouri (20-5, 8-4) would be Auburn's first over a nationally ranked opponent this year. At No. 13 in both national polls, Missouri is the first ranked team to visit Auburn Arena this season. They have won three straight entering Thursday's game with victories over Florida, Kentucky and Arkansas.

Auburn and Missouri have met nine times in women's basketball with Missouri owning a 5-4 edge. Missouri won last year's only meeting 68-53 in Columbia.

Andy Burcham, Larry DiChiara and Brit Bowen will have the radio call on WTGZ 93.9 FM beginning at 5:45 p.m.; fans can also listen online at AuburnTigers.com or via TuneIn Radio. SEC Network + will carry the online broadcast with Brad Law and Joe Ciampi on the call; the broadcast is available at WatchESPN.com or via the ESPN app on mobile devices.

Promotions

- Game Presented by Mint Julep
- TicketBack - Fans who present their ticket from the Feb. 14 men's basketball game vs. Kentucky receive FREE general admission.
- Play4Kay Pink Game - Fans encouraged to wear pink in honor of breast cancer awareness/research; Auburn will wear pink uniforms. Pink shirts and shakers available for the first 500 fans.
- Dean's Challenge - Harrison School of Pharmacy, College of Science & Mathematics, College of Veterinary Medicine

Auburn Quick Hitters

- This is the 10th meeting between Auburn and Missouri in women's basketball
- The teams have met seven times since Missouri joined the SEC
- Missouri leads the series 5-4; the teams are tied 2-2 when meeting in Auburn
- Missouri won last year's meeting in Columbia 68-53
- At No. 13 in both polls, Missouri will be the only nationally ranked team to visit Auburn Arena this season
- Auburn has won two straight SEC games and three in a row at home, improving to 10-2 at Auburn Arena
- Auburn's 10 home wins are the second-most regular-season home victories since moving into Auburn Arena
- Auburn is the only team in the SEC that will have played six of the league's top seven teams on the road
- Auburn ranks in the top 5 nationally in steals per game (2nd - 13.4) and turnovers forced per game (5th - 23.2)
- Auburn leads the SEC in steals (13.4/game) and has the league's top two individuals in steals: Janiah McKay (1st - 2.62/game) and Daisa Alexander (2nd - 2.58/game)
- Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy earned her 100th Auburn victory vs. LSU on Feb. 8
- Coach Flo is 101-87 in six seasons at Auburn and 244-191 in 14 seasons as a head coach
- The Tigers are 6-1 this season and 51-7 under Coach Flo when scoring at least 70 points
- Janiah McKay and Unique Thompson each topped 20 points vs. LSU; second time this season for McKay and Thompson to both have 20 in a game (Texas A&M, 1/8)
- Sophomore Daisa Alexander and freshman Abigayle Jackson made their first career starts at LSU (1/18)
- Alexander's 7 steals at LSU were the most by an Auburn player this season
- Freshman Abigayle Jackson scored a career-high 13 points at Texas A&M (2/4)
- Auburn set a new school record by hitting 16-of-16 free throws in the first meeting with Texas A&M (1/7)
- From the end of the Tennessee game (1/4) into the third quarter of the South Carolina game (1/11), Auburn made 24 consecutive free throws
- Five players scored in double figures for Auburn vs. Alabama, the first time for that since 12/29/14 at FIU
- Alexander is second on the team with 13.6 points/game; she has scored in double-figures in 20 of 24 games
- The Tigers tied a school record for fewest turnovers with 5 vs. Florida on Dec. 31 while forcing the Gators into 28
- Auburn has forced at least 20 turnovers in 20 of 24 games this season and 25+ turnovers in nine games
- Auburn has won 25 of its last 28 games when forcing at least 25 turnovers (7-2 this season)
- Junior point guard Janiah McKay is Auburn's top scorer with 16.4 points/game; she also leads team and ranks fifth in SEC in assists (4.5) and leads SEC in steals (2.7)
- McKay is the SEC's third-leading free-throw shooter at 84.6% (115-of-136)
- McKay was 11-of-11 on free throws vs. Texas A&M (1/7), tying an Auburn record held by 3 other players; she made 20 in a row over a four-game stretch from Florida (12/31) through South Carolina (1/11)
- McKay scored 25+ points in three straight games (Texas A&M, South Carolina, Arkansas); she is the fourth Auburn player to accomplish that feat in the last 30 years
- Freshman Unique Thompson was named SEC Freshman of the Week after her first career double-double (16 pts, 14 rebs) vs. Louisiana Tech (11/19); she had 10 points and 10 rebounds by halftime
- Thompson has 6 double-doubles this season: LA Tech (16/14), ULL (29/12), Southern (18/10), SE Louisiana (10/11), Arkansas (14/13), Alabama (14/11); only one Auburn player has had more as a freshman (Le'Coe Willingham, 7)

Last Time Out

ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Auburn built a big early lead and held off a second-half surge by Vanderbilt to earn a 63-60 win Monday night at Auburn Arena.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º The Tigers (13-11, 4-8 SEC) earned their second straight SEC victory and improved to 10-2 at home this season, but not without some anxious moments as Vanderbilt (6-20, 2-10) whittled down what had been a 20-point lead to just two in the waning moments of the game. But sophomore Daisa Alexander scored five points in the final 52 seconds, including a clutch jumper with 19 seconds to play, and forced a turnover with less than five seconds left as Vanderbilt was driving for the tying bucket.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Three players finished in double-figures for Auburn. Freshman Unique Thompson scored a game-high 16 points and, for the second straight game, missed a double-double by one rebound. Alexander added 12 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, and Janiah McKay finished with 11 and a team-leading five assists.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Vanderbilt finished 9-of-26 from 3-point range (34.6%) and shot 41.9 percent (18-of-43) for the game. But the Tigers took 25 more shots than the Commodores, hitting 24-of-68 (35.3%), mostly thanks to 24 Vandy turnovers that turned into 21 Auburn points. Vanderbilt out-rebounded Auburn 39-30.

Noteworthy

A WIN OVER MISSOURI WOULD...
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Guarantee a winning home record in SEC play with a fifth home victory this season.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Improve Auburn to 11-2 at home this year.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Be Auburn's first win over a ranked opponent this season.

AUBURN vs. MISSOURI
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Missouri leads the all-time series with Auburn 5-4. The series is tied 2-2 in Auburn. All five of Missouri's wins have come since they joined the SEC in 2012-13.

LAST MEETING (Jan. 21, 2017, in Columbia, Mo.):
MISSOURI 68, AUBURN 53
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Janiah McKay scored 14 points and Emari Jones added a career-high 11, but Auburn dropped its first SEC road game of the year, falling at Missouri 68-53.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Auburn went cold in the second half as Missouri's Cierra Porter scored a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Auburn shot 30.4 percent from the field while allowing Missouri to shoot 53.3 percent, the highest by an Auburn opponent this season. Known as a 3-point shooting team, Missouri took the ball inside, outscoring Auburn in the paint 36-16. Missouri also controlled the boards, outrebounding Auburn 40-27.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Free throws kept Auburn in a foul-plagued game ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" a combined 47 fouls led to 42 free-throw attempts - through a third quarter where the Tigers made just one field goal; Mizzou took a 47-37 lead after three. But the shooting woes continued until late in the fourth as Auburn made just three shots in the first eight minutes of the final period. Meanwhile, Missouri kept feeding Porter, who scored 13 of her 27 in the final 10 minutes, extending their lead to as many as 22 points late in the quarter.

SCOUTING MISSOURI
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Missouri, ranked No. 13 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' polls, is 20-5 on the season and 8-4 in SEC play. Like Auburn, Missouri is on a short week after their game at Arkansas was postponed from Sunday to Monday because of weather-related travel issues.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Missouri is one of two SEC teams in the league's top-5 in scoring offense (5th - 71.2) and defense (4th - 59.7). Mizzou averages 46.4% from the field and 38.2% from 3-point range, and they have the second-best rebounding margin in the league (+9.3). They also average 8.0 made 3-pointers per game, second-best in the league.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Junior Sophie Cunningham, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, is fifth in the SEC with 18.5 points/game. She also shoots 55.8% from the field, is the SEC leader in 3-point percentage (47.4%) and is second in the SECIn free-throw shooting (84.7%).

SCOUTING AUBURN
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Auburn is 13-11 on the season, 4-8 SEC, and has won two straight games, defeating LSU 70-62 and Vanderbilt 63-60.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º The Tigers are scoring 63.2 points per game while holding opponents to 58.5/game, third-best in the SEC. Auburn leads the SEC in steals (13.4/game) and turnovers forced (23.2/game).
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Junior point guard Janiah McKay has scored in double-figures in 22 of the Tigers' 24 games, including matching a career-high with 29 vs. Louisiana Tech. She also leads the SEC in steals (2.6/game), is third in free-throw percentage (84.6%) and fifth in assists (4.5/game).
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Freshman Unique Thompson has been a breakout star, twice earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors while averaging 11.7 points and 8.9 rebounds. She is fourth among SEC freshmen in scoring and first in rebounding. She has six double-doubles on the season, including three straight vs. ULL, Southern and Southeastern La. She had her best SEC game against Texas A&M with 22 points and 9 rebounds, then followed that up with a double-double against Arkansas (14 points/13 rebounds).
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Senior forward Jazmine Jones is averaging 5.5 points/game. She had a season-high 9 rebounds in the first meeting with Texas A&M.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Sophomore Daisa Alexander has been another breakout star, averaging 13.6 points. She came off the bench for Auburn's first 17 games and moved into the starting lineup at LSU on Jan. 18. In just 20 minutes vs. Indiana, she scored a career-high 25 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter to help Auburn pull away. She added 21 points in the win over Florida, 17 vs. Texas A&M and 16 at South Carolina. She made her first career start at LSU on Jan. 18, scoring 20 points and notching a career-high 7 steals, then scored 22 points at Georgia.
ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º Auburn has forced at least 20 turnovers in 20 of 24 games this season and has forced 25 or more nine times (29 vs. LA Tech; 25 vs. Northwestern, 35 vs. ULM; 26 vs. Southern; 31 vs. SE Louisiana; 30 vs. XULA; 28 vs. Florida; 28 at Tennessee; 25 vs. Alabama). The Tigers average 23.0 points per game off opponent turnovers.

Looking Ahead

ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬ºÃƒÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬º The Tigers look to make it a season sweep of their cross-state rivals when Auburn travels to Alabama on Sunday. Game time is 4 p.m. CT from Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa; broadcast on SEC Network and WTGZ 93.9 FM.