AUBURN, Ala. – Two of the top defensive teams in the nation will square off Thursday night at Auburn Arena as the Auburn women's basketball team hosts No. 19 Kentucky at 6 p.m. CT.
The first 500 fans will receive an Auburn women's basketball trading card set, featuring all 12 players from the 2018-19 team. Tickets are available at AUBTix.com and at the Auburn Arena ticket office on gameday.
The Tigers (17-5, 5-4 SEC) will look to build off the momentum from a come-from-behind, 59-58 overtime win over Georgia on Sunday. In that game, Auburn trailed by as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter before finishing regulation on a 17-4 run to force overtime. Junior Crystal Primm hit the game-tying layup late in the fourth quarter and sank four free throws in the closing seconds of overtime to clinch the win.
In Sunday's game, Auburn forced Georgia into 28 turnovers and racked up 21 steals – tying the Auburn record for the most steals against an SEC opponent. Senior Janiah McKay had a season-high five steals while Erica Sanders, Unique Thompson and Daisa Alexander had four apiece and Erin Howard added three.
Auburn will face a Kentucky team (18-5, 5-4) that plays a similar defensive style – forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. The Wildcats lead the SEC in turnovers forced at 22.4 per game; Auburn is right behind at 21.8/game. Auburn leads the league in steals with 12.8 per game; Kentucky is second at 10.7. And the top five individual leaders in steals in the SEC play for Auburn or Kentucky – UK's Taylor Murray leads the league with 3.3 steals, followed by McKay (2.5), Alexander (2.4) and UK's Rhyne Howard and Auburn's Primm (2.1 each).
The Tigers will look to snap a three-game skid against the Wildcats. Last season Kentucky pulled away early in the fourth quarter for a 65-48 win in Lexington.
Andy Burcham, Larry DiChiara and JJ Jackson will have the radio call of Thursday's game beginning at 5:45 p.m. CT on WTGZ 93.9 FM, AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics mobile app. Brad Law and Joe Ciampi will call the action on SEC Network +, available at WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
QUICK HITS
• This is the 49th meeting between Auburn and Kentucky in women's basketball
• Auburn leads the all-time series 26-22, including an 11-9 edge in games played at Auburn
• The Tigers dropped the last meeting 65-48 in Lexington last season
• This is Auburn's fifth game against a top-25 opponent in SEC play
• Auburn leads the SEC and ranks 5th in the NCAA in steals per game (12.8)
• Auburn has forced 20 or more turnovers in 18 of 22 games this season, including 13 of the last 14
• The Tigers are averaging 24.9 points per game off opponent turnovers
• Auburn rallied from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Georgia 59-58 in overtime on Feb. 3; the Tigers forced 28 turnovers - one shy of a season high - and tied the Auburn record for steals against an SEC opponent with 21
• Sophomore Unique Thompson has recorded nine double-doubles in 21 games, including three straight against New Mexico, Iowa State and UL-Lafayette; she now has 16 in her career, 8th-most in Auburn history
• Thompson was named SEC Player of the Week after averaging 17.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in wins over Ole Miss and Georgia
• Senior Janiah McKay became Auburn's 12th all-time player to reach the 1,500-point plateau; she is now 11th in scoring in Auburn history with 1,516 points after passing Tyrese Tanner (1,515) vs. Georgia
• McKay is the first player in Auburn history with 1,500 points, 400 assists and 200 steals
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn's 18th win of the year, matching the most regular-season wins of the Coach Flo era.
›› Snap a 20-game slide against ranked opponents that dates back to the 2015-16 season.
›› End a three-game skid against Kentucky.
›› Give Auburn a third RPI top-50 win this season.
AUBURN VS. KENTUCKY
›› Auburn is 26-22 all-time against Kentucky and leads the series at home 11-9. Kentucky has won the last three meetings.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hits the road for its next two games, beginning with a Sunday trip to Arkansas. Game time is 1 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena.