AUBURN, Ala. – It will be the final regular-season road trip of the 2019-20 season for the Auburn women's basketball team Thursday when the Tigers travel to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena.
Auburn looks to shake off a rough game at No. 16 Texas A&M last Sunday and return to the form that led to a win over LSU and a near-upset of No. 9 Mississippi State last week.
Missouri comes into the game having won two straight and three of its last five. Auburn and Missouri split two contests last season with each team winning at home.
The game can be heard on WTGZ 93.9 FM and online at AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics app with Brit Bowen calling the action. Fans can watch on SEC Network +, available via WatchESPN or the ESPN app.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be the Tigers' first road SEC win of the year.
›› Be Auburn's first win in five trips to Mizzou Arena.
›› Give Auburn a second straight win over Missouri.
AUBURN-MISSOURI SERIES
›› Missouri owns a 7-5 lead over Auburn with 10 of the 12 meetings coming since Missouri joined the SEC in 2012-13. Auburn and Missouri split two meetings last year with each team winning at home.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 24, 2019 (at Auburn)
Auburn 58, #25 Missouri 64
›› Auburn put together one of its best defensive efforts of the season to earn a 58-54 victory over No. 25 Missouri on Senior Day at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers, who dropped their first meeting of the season with Missouri on Jan. 27, held Missouri to its second-lowest scoring output in SEC play. The victory gave Auburn its first 20-win regular season since 2009 and the second overall 20-win season (including postseason) under head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy.
›› After Missouri finished the third quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 45-38 lead to the fourth, Auburn held Mizzou scoreless for the first five minutes of the final period with an 11-0 run of their own, regaining the lead at 47-45 on a layup from Thompson. From there, Auburn would never trail again, hitting key free throws in the closing minutes to secure its eighth SEC victory of the season. Auburn outscored Missouri 20-9 in the final period.
›› Junior Daisa Alexander led Auburn in scoring for the fourth straight game and the seventh time in SEC play with 19 points. Freshman Erin Howard added a career-high 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting (2-2 3FG), and Unique Thompson and Janiah McKay added nine points each. Thompson led Auburn with eight rebounds and McKay finished with six assists.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
›› Missouri is 8-19 overall, 5-9 in SEC play, but has won two straight games and three of its last five.
›› Missouri's stats are very similar to Auburn's - they average 66.7 ppg while allowing 71.5. Missouri is the league's second-best free-throw shooting team at 74.2% and makes 7.5 3-pointers per game.
›› Aijha Blackwell is Missouri's leading scorer with 14.3 points/game. She also leads Mizzou in rebounds and assists.
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 66.5 points per game but gives up 72.4; the Tigers lead the SEC with 10.6 steals per game, including 11.1/game in conference play.
›› Junior forward Unique Thompson has 20 double-doubles through 25 games, averaging 16.8 points and 11.5 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 13.3 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 2.8 steals, which would rank second in the SEC if she met playing minimums. In SEC play, she leads the league with 3.0 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 13 games in SEC play and is averaging 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in conference games.
ROAD TO GREENVILLE
›› Auburn will play on the opening day of the 2020 SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
›› If Auburn wins both its final two games and Missouri loses its final two games, Auburn would be the 11-seed and face Ole Miss at 12:30 p.m. CT Wednesday.
›› With one Auburn loss or one Missouri win in the final two regular season games, the Tigers would face Vanderbilt at 10 a.m. CT Wednesday.
UP NEXT
›› The Tigers close out the 2019-20 regular season Sunday afternon at home vs. Tennessee. Game time is 2:05 p.m. Senior Daisa Alexander along with senior managers AK Prestridge and Sean Holmes will be honored in a pregame ceremony, set to begin at approximately 1:45 p.m.