AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team will embark on its first foreign tour since 2012 when the Tigers travel to Italy from Aug. 7-16.
The trip will include three exhibition games along with visits to historic places and tourist destinations around the country.
The Tigers will depart from Atlanta Wednesday evening, landing in Rome Thursday morning. Auburn's travel party will spend two nights in Rome, followed by three nights in Florence and three nights in Milan.
Auburn's first competition of the trip will be Friday in Rome as the Tigers take on the Netherlands National Team. The Tigers will also face local teams of select players in Florence (Sunday, Aug. 11) and Milan (Thursday, Aug. 15). All three games are set to begin at 7 p.m. local time (noon CT).
While in Italy, Auburn will tour numerous sites, including the Colosseum, Vatican City, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Pisa and Lake Como, along with other destinations in Florence and Milan.
The team will return home Friday, Aug. 16, departing from Milan and traveling back to Atlanta via Amsterdam.
This will be Auburn's third international summer tour, joining excursions to Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2008 and a trip to Australia in 2012. The Tigers went 3-0 on their 2008 trip and 3-1 against Australian professional teams in 2012.
Fans can follow the Tigers' Italian tour via the official social media channels of Auburn Women's Basketball, including the team's Facebook page and @AuburnWBB on Twitter and Instagram. Recaps from each game and photo galleries throughout the trip will also be available at AuburnTigers.com.
Auburn returns three starters and eight letterwinners from a year ago when the Tigers went 22-10 overall, 9-7 in SEC play, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons. Senior Daisa Alexander is Auburn's leading returning scorer at 12.6 points/game last season, and junior Unique Thompson averaged 12.2 points and 10.3 rebounds as a sophomore; the fifth Tiger in history to average a double-double for the season.
Junior Abigayle Jackson and sophomores Erin Howard, Brooke Moore, Robyn Benton, Kiyae' White and Natalie Kelly also return for the Tigers as most saw extensive playing time last season.
The trip will also be the first chance to see Auburn's six newcomers in game action. The Tigers welcome freshmen Lauren Hansen, Annie Hughes, Maliya Perry, Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu, and Sania Wells, along with sophomore transfer Jala Jordan.