AUBURN, Ala. – After playing four of its last five games on the road, the Auburn women's basketball team plays the first of two home games this week with a Sunday matinee against LSU. Game time is 4 p.m. CT at Auburn Arena.
Doors at the Scholarship Entrance will open at 2:30 p.m. CT, 30 minutes earlier than usual, for Aubie's Birthday Party in the Courtside Lounge. Kids are invited to meet Aubie, take pictures and grab cupcakes to celebrate Aubie's birthday.
Auburn seeks its third straight home win, following up on a pair of victories over Ole Miss on Jan. 23 and Vanderbilt on Feb. 2. The Tigers also look for their fifth win in six tries over LSU.
Auburn enters Sunday's game after a pair of tough road losses to Alabama and No. 1 South Carolina last week. LSU has won four straight, including a home win over Tennessee Thursday night.
Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio coverage on WTGZ 93.9 FM beginning at 3:45 p.m. CT; fans can also listen online at AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics app. The game can be seen live on SEC Network with Sam Gore and Steffi Sorensen calling the action.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be the Tigers' third straight home victory.
›› Be the fifth win over LSU in the last six meetings.
AUBURN-LSU SERIES
›› Auburn owns a 33-22 advantage over LSU in a series that dates back to 1980. Auburn is 15-9 against LSU in games played in Auburn.
LAST MEETING: March 3, 2019 (at Baton Rouge)
Auburn 56, LSU 46
›› A low-scoring defensive struggle went Auburn's way on the final day of the regular season as the Tigers earned a 56-46 win at LSU.
›› The Tigers used a 20-7 second quarter to build a double-digit lead, extending that lead to as many as 16 points in the fourth. At 9-7 in SEC play, the Tigers also clinched a winning record in SEC play for the first time since 2009.
›› Daisa Alexander led all scorers with 16 points on the day and Crystal Primm added 11 to lead the Auburn offense. Abigayle Jackson added a season-high nine points, all in the first half, and Unique Thompson was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Erica Sanders added a season-high four steals.
›› Auburn shot 35.7 percent from the field to LSU's 36.4 percent, but the Tigers took advantage of 24 LSU turnovers, converting those into 25 points. Auburn finished with 14 steals on the day.
SCOUTING LSU
›› LSU is 18-5 overall, 8-3 in SEC play, and enters Sunday's game on a four-game winning streak.
›› LSU averages 66.3 points per game, the same as Auburn, but gives up just 58.2 per game.
›› Khayla Pointer leads the Tigers with 15.3 points and 4.5 assists per game, and is coming off a 24-point, 10-rebound, 6-assist performance against Tennessee. Faustine Aifuwa adds 10.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Senior Ayana Mitchell was averaging 13.7 points and 8.9 rebounds before suffering a season-ending injury earlier this month.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› The Tigers are among the most inexperienced teams in the country with just two upperclassmen on their 13-player roster. With four freshmen and seven sophomores, Auburn is one of just eight teams nationwide with three or fewer upperclassmen on its roster.
›› Auburn averages 66.3 points per game but gives up 71.5; the Tigers lead the SEC with 10.7 steals per game, including 11.3/game in conference play.
›› Junior forward Unique Thompson has 19 double-doubles through 22 games, averaging 16.4 points and 12.0 rebounds; she is the leading rebounder and fourth-leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference. She has 39 career double-doubles, which ranks 2nd in Auburn history, first among active SEC players, and is one shy of tying the Auburn career record of 40 (DeWanna Bonner). Thompson scored her 1,000th career point at Kentucky (1/27).
›› Senior guard Daisa Alexander is the Tigers' second-leading scorer, averaging 13.2 points/game. She scored her 1,000th career point against Jacksonville State on Dec. 28, becoming the 34th Tiger to reach that milestone. Alexander also ranks fifth in the SEC in steals (2.2/game). Alexander missed two games with an ankle injury, but returned to the lineup with 17 points at Georgia (1/19) and a career-high 10 rebounds vs. Ole Miss (1/23).
›› Sophomore Robyn Benton made her season debut vs. Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 15, scoring 10 points along with two blocks. She missed the season's first nine games with injury. Benton made her first career start at Georgia (1/19), scoring 12 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 steals. She added a career-high 17 points and 6 rebounds in the Tigers' win over Ole Miss (1/23), and she had 6 steals in each of two games vs. MSU and Vandy. Benton is averaging 2.8 steals, which would rank second in the SEC if she met playing minimums. In SEC play, she leads the league with 3.2 steals/game.
›› Freshman Lauren Hansen earned her first career start at UAB on Nov. 21 in her second collegiate game. Hansen followed that up with an 18-point, 4-steal performance in a win over St. Joseph's, then a 24-point, 4-assist day against Drake where she made seven 3-pointers. She had her best game in SEC play with 18 points against Vanderbilt (2/2).
›› Sophomore Erin Howard scored a career-high 15 points at Alabama last Sunday; she has started 10 games in SEC play and is averaging 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in conference games.
UP NEXT
›› The Tigers host No. 6 Mississippi State at 8 p.m. CT Thursday.