AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team is on the road for the next two games, starting with a trip to College Station, Texas, to face No. 16 Texas A&M Sunday. Game time is 3 p.m. CT at Reed Arena.
The Tigers are coming off a heartbreaking 92-85 overtime loss to No. 9 Mississippi State Friday night that saw Auburn lead for most of regulation before falling in the extra period. In that game, Auburn saw junior Unique Thompson earn her 20th double-double of the season and tie the school record for career double-doubles with 40, pulling even with DeWanna Bonner on the all-time list. In addition, senior Daisa Alexander set an Auburn record at the free-throw line, hitting 12-of-12 attempts in the game.
Texas A&M is ranked 16th in the AP poll and 17th in the coaches' poll this week. The Aggies downed Georgia 64-47 Thursday night and are tied for third place in the SEC standings. Auburn faced the Aggies twice last year, falling by two points twice – once at home and once in the SEC Tournament.
Brit Bowen has the radio call on WTGZ 93.9 FM beginning at 2:45 p.m. CT; the broadcast is also available at AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app. A national telecast is slated for ESPN2 with Pam Ward and Steffi Sorensen calling the action.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be the Tigers' first road SEC win of the year.
›› Be Auburn's first win over Texas A&M in women's basketball.
›› Be Auburn's first top-25 road victory since winning at No. 16 Vanderbilt 68-62 on Feb. 13, 2014.
AUBURN-TEXAS A&M SERIES
›› Texas A&M is 13-0 all-time against Auburn in a series that dates back to 2007. The Aggies are 11-0 against Auburn since joining the SEC in 2012-13 and 4-0 at Reed Arena in league play.
LAST MEETING: March 8, 2019 (at Greenville)
#15 Texas A&M 64, Auburn 62 [SEC Quarterfinals]
›› For the second time this year, Auburn pushed Texas A&M to the brink. And for the second time, Texas A&M hit a jumper in the final seconds to claim a two-point victory, this one a 64-62 heartbreaker Friday night in the quarterfinals of the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament.
›› In a game that saw 10 ties and nine lead changes, the teams were tied 62-62 with less than 30 seconds left. Texas A&M's Kayla Wells scored the final two of her game-high 28 points with a 12-foot jumper with 5.2 seconds left to give the Aggies a 64-62 lead. Auburn was unable to get a good look on its final possession, and A&M stole a second two-point victory from the Tigers this season.
›› The Tigers (22-9) had opportunities to put the Aggies away multiple times during the game, forcing A&M (24-6) into 26 turnovers. But Auburn was only able to convert those into 21 points and turned the ball over 15 times themselves.
›› Meanwhile, A&M shot 59.0 percent from the floor and opened both the first and third quarter hitting their first six shots to build early leads. Both times, though, Auburn fought its way back, taking a four-point lead at halftime and leading by as many as three late in the fourth quarter. But the Tigers scored just one bucket in the final four minutes, missing three of their final four shots to set up the Aggies' game-winner.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
›› Texas A&M is 21-5 overall, 9-4 in SEC play and currently in a three-way tie for third place in the league.
›› The Aggies average 70.3 points per game but give up just 57.5, second-best in the SEC. A&M averages 41.1 rebounds per game, fourth-best in the league.
›› Chennedy Carter is the Aggies' leading scorer and second in the SEC with 21.9 points/game. N'dea Jones averages 11.7 rebounds/game to lead the SEC.
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 67.0 points per game but gives up 71.9; the Tigers lead the SEC with 10.8 steals per game, including 11.5/game in conference play.
›› Junior forward Unique Thompson has 20 double-doubles through 24 games, averaging 17.0 points and 11.7 rebounds; she is the second-leading rebounder and fourth-leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference. She has 40 career double-doubles, first among active SEC players, and is tied with DeWanna Bonner for the Auburn career record. 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). She is the top free-throw shooter in SEC play at 87.5%.
›› 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 2.9 steals, which would lead 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 (2/9); she has started 12 games in SEC play and is averaging 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in conference games.
SEEING DOUBLE
›› Junior Unique Thompson has 40 career double-doubles, which is tied with DeWanna Bonner for the Auburn career record. She has 20 in 24 games this season.
›› Thompson is the national leader with 20 double-doubles this year and had the longest streak of the season nationally with 12 in her first 12 games.
WE'RE JUST FINE AT THE LINE
›› Daisa Alexander set an Auburn record for single-game free-throw shooting in the Feb. 20 game vs. Mississippi State when she made 12-of-12 free throw attempts for the game. It surpassed five previous 11-for-11 efforts by Auburn players.
›› Heading into the Texas A&M game, Alexander has made 24 of her last 25 free throw attempts. For the season, she is shooting 81.6% (62-76) at the line, third-best in the SEC. She leads the league in conference play at 87.5% (35-40).
›› As a team, Auburn shoots 71.1% from the line, but has bettered that in league play to 74.8%, third-best in the SEC. The best night of the season came against Mississippi State (2/20) when Auburn hit 28-of-31 attempts (90.3%).
UP NEXT
›› The Tigers play their final road game of the regular season Thursday night when they travel to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena.