GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Auburn women's basketball team begins postseason play Wednesday morning when they take on Vanderbilt in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Game time is 10 a.m. CT at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The Tigers will look to win the season series against the Commodores as the teams split a pair of regular-season meetings. Vanderbilt won 77-55 in Nashville to open league play on Jan. 2, then Auburn earned a 70-62 win at home one month later.
Auburn heads into the tournament looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking 56-55 loss to Tennessee on Senior Day at Auburn Arena Sunday. The Tigers put together one of their best defensive efforts of the year but struggled to hit shots as the Lady Vols hit the game-winner with 0.6 seconds left.
In 41 all-time appearances in the SEC Tournament, Auburn is 38-38. Last year, the Tigers made it to the quarterfinals, defeating Alabama in the second round before dropping a two-point game to Texas A&M.
The winner of Wednesday's game will move on to face Arkansas in the second round at 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday.
Brit Bowen will have the radio call from courtside beginning at 9:45 a.m. CT on WTGZ 93.9 FM and online at AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app. The game can be seen on SEC Network with Eric Frede, Tamika Catchings and Andraya Carter calling the action.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Advance Auburn to the second round to face Arkansas.
›› Improve Auburn to 2-1 against Vanderbilt this year.
›› Be Auburn's second all-time win over Vandy in the SEC Tournament.
AUBURN IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
›› This is the 41st appearance in the SEC Tournament for Auburn. The Tigers are 38-38 all-time and own four SEC Tournament titles in 1981, 1987, 1990 and 1997.
›› This is coach Terri Williams-Flournoy's 8th appearance in the SEC Tournament as Auburn's head coach. The Tigers are 4-7 in the tournament under Coach Flo. She was an assistant at Georgia in 2001 when the Lady Bulldogs won the tournament title.
›› Auburn is the No. 13 seed for the second time. The Tigers were the 13-seed in 2015 in North Little Rock, Ark., defeating Florida in the first round before falling to Texas A&M in the second round.
AUBURN-VANDERBILT SERIES
›› This is the 53rd meeting between Auburn and Vanderbilt in women's basketball and the third this season. The teams split the first two meeting with each winning at home.
›› Vanderbilt owns a 29-23 edge in the series that dates back to 1977-78, but Auburn has won seven of the last eight meetings. Prior to Auburn's win in Nashville in 2014, the Commodores had won 21 in a row dating back to 2001.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 2, 2020 (at Auburn)
Auburn 70, Vanderbilt 62
›› Four players scored in double-figures, and the Auburn women's basketball team held off a late Vanderbilt rally and had their best free-throw shooting day of the season in a 70-62 win Sunday at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers avenged a 22-point loss a month ago in Nashville by forcing the Commodores into 22 turnovers and taking advantage of opportunities at the line, hitting 18-of-20 free throws on the day.
›› Senior Daisa Alexander and freshman Lauren Hansen tied for the Auburn lead with 18 points apiece. Alexander added four assists and three steals, and Hansen had two assists, two steals and a rebound. The two combined to go 12-of-12 at the charity stripe, with five of those coming in the closing second to seal the win.
›› Auburn's 90-percent free-throw day was its best since shooting 92.3 percent (12-of-13) in a win over Nicholls State last season. Despite Vanderbilt out-shooting the Tigers 49.1 percent to 38.7 percent, Auburn held the Commodores at bay from long range, allowing Vandy to hit just one 3-pointer on the night; 40 of Vandy's 62 points came in the paint.
SCOUTING VANDERBILT
›› Vanderbilt is 14-15 overall, 4-12 in SEC play. The Commodores and Tigers tied for 12th in the final league standings.
›› The Commodores average 66.8 points/game but give up 67.1. Vandy pulls down 41.0 rebounds per game, out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 3.7 boards per game.
›› Mariella Fasoula is Vanderbilt's leading scorer (13.3 ppg) and rebounder (6.6 rpg). Jordyn Cambridge, named to the SEC All-Defensive Team, leads the SEC with 2.9 steals per game.
›› Jordyn Cambridge, Vanderbilt's sophomore guard, is the sister of Auburn men's basketball freshman Devan Cambridge.
›› Former Vanderbilt standout Marqu'es Webb, currently the Commodores' director of player development, is the sister of Auburn director of basketball operations Bianca Webb.
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 67.1 points per game but gives up 72.1; the Tigers lead the SEC with 10.9 steals per game, including 11.4/game in conference play.
›› Junior forward Unique Thompson has 21 double-doubles through 27 games, averaging 16.2 points and 11.4 rebounds; she is the second-leading rebounder and sixth-leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference. She has 41 career double-doubles, first among active SEC players, and the most in Auburn history. Thompson scored her 1,000th career point at Kentucky (1/27). She was named to the All-SEC First Team earlier this week.
›› Senior guard Daisa Alexander is the Tigers' second-leading scorer, averaging 13.7 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 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. She then led Auburn with a career-high 23 points in a win at Missouri (2/27). 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 3.1 steals/game.
›› Sophomore Erin Howard scored a career-high 22 points at Missouri (2/27); she has started 15 games in SEC play and is averaging 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in conference games.
UP NEXT
›› With a win, Auburn would face Arkansas in the SEC Tournament second round, set for approx. 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday, March 5.