AUBURN, Ala. – After having their last two games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, the Auburn women's basketball team returns to action Sunday when the Tigers travel to Gainesville, Fla., to face the Florida Gators.
Game time for Sunday's contest at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is set for noon CT with a national broadcast on SEC Network.
The Tigers (5-6, 0-3 SEC) have not played since a hard-fought 62-58 loss at Ole Miss on Jan. 7. Auburn's home games with Missouri and Kentucky last week were postponed; the Kentucky game will be played next Thursday, Jan. 21.
Florida (7-6, 0-5) has run the gauntlet of the SEC's top teams in the early part of the season. The Gators dropped an 84-80 shootout at Arkansas Thursday night in their last contest.
For the latest on Auburn women's basketball, follow @AuburnWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at 11:45 a.m. CT on WTGZ 93.9 FM. The game can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics app.
›› Sunday's game can be seen on SEC Network with Mike Couzens and Steffi Sorensen calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a career-high 23 points, but the Tigers' best effort so far in SEC play came up just short in a 62-58 loss at Ole Miss on Jan. 7.
›› The Tigers trailed by as many as 12 points late in the third quarter, but opened the fourth on a 7-0 run and got within two in the final minute of the game. But Ole Miss made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory.
›› Scott-Grayson was 9-of-16 from the field and hit three times from 3-point range; she also led the Tigers with five rebounds and shared the team lead with three steals. Romi Levy added 13 points, and Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu equaled Scott-Grayson's steals total with three of her own.
›› As a team, Auburn shot 41.8 percent (23-55) and was 6-of-21 from 3-point range (28.6%). But the fourth quarter saw the Tigers hit 8-of-12 shots as they nearly completed the comeback. Ole Miss outrebounded Auburn 34-28, but the Tigers turned 19 Rebel turnovers into 17 points, their best showing in the turnover department in SEC play.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Snap a four-game losing streak.
›› Be Auburn's third straight win in Gainesville.
AUBURN-FLORIDA SERIES
›› Auburn is 38-22 all-time against Florida, including a 13-11 advantage in games played in Gainesville. The Tigers have won their last two contests at the O-Dome, including a 64-56 win in 2019.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 9, 2020, in Auburn
Florida 83, Auburn 63
›› Unique Thompson picked up her 13th double-double of the season, but Auburn was unable to overcome a hot-shooting Florida team Thursday night in an 83-63 loss at Auburn Arena.
›› Florida (11-5, 2-1 SEC) shot 61.5 percent from the field, including 58.8 percent from 3-point range, and also controlled the paint as Auburn (6-8, 0-3) fell behind early and was unable to recover.
›› Thompson was held scoreless in the first half but bounced back after halftime to finish with 10 points and 10 rebounds to extend her NCAA-leading double-double total. Kiyae' White added eight points and seven rebounds.
›› Auburn shot 39.3 percent from the field and attempted a season-high 29 3-pointers, making seven (24.1%). Florida grabbed one more rebound than Auburn (30-29). The Tigers forced Florida into 17 turnovers but was only able to convert those into nine points. Florida, meanwhile, scored 26 points off 16 Auburn turnovers.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
›› Florida is 7-6 overall, 0-5 in SEC play. The Gators have faced an early gauntlet in league play, facing four top-25 opponents and a fifth receiving votes.
›› The Gators average 74.2 points/game while holding opponents to 66.5. As a team, they shoot 42.3% from the floor.
›› Lavender Briggs leads the Gators and ranks fourth in the SEC with 19.5 points/game. In SEC play, she is averaging 24.2 points/game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior forward Unique Thompson leads the nation with 15.3 rebounds per game this year and leads Auburn with 18.8 points/game. She is fourth in the nation and second in the SEC in double-doubles with seven. Thompson pulled down her 1,000th career rebound against Belmont on Dec. 20 and is the only active player nationally with over 1,000 career rebounds. An honorable-mention All-American and first-team All-SEC performer a year ago, Thompson is Auburn's lone returning starter. She averaged a double-double for the second straight year in 2020 with 16.2 points and 11.4 rebounds, leading Auburn in both categories.
›› Thompson has been unavailable the last three games due to medical issues, but is expected to return vs. Florida.
›› Two redshirt sophomore transfers that sat out last season are making an immediate impact. Honesty Scott-Grayson (Baylor) and Jala Jordan (West Virginia) have both earned significant minutes through the first several games. Scott-Grayson has started all 11 games and had a career-high 23 points at Ole Miss, 18 points vs. Belmont, 16 points against both SFA and North Florida, and 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals vs. Gardner-Webb. Jordan is Auburn's third-leading scorer with 8.1 points/game; she's also the Tigers' second-leading rebounder (4.0/game) and leading shot-blocker (0.9/game)
›› Four other returners saw game action for Auburn last season: redshirt junior Kiyae' White and sophomores Annie Hughes, Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu and Sania Wells. Hughes scored a career-high 17 points against North Florida and has started seven games. Wells and Robinson-Nwagwu played significant minutes in the opener; Robinson-Nwagwu had a career-high four steals and matched career-highs with 6 points and 4 rebounds. She also had a career-high 6 assists at Ole Miss. Wells scored a career-high 11 points in the win over South Alabama and made her first career start at LSU.
ALL THE NEW FACES
›› Of the 15 players on the roster, 10 of them wore an Auburn uniform for the first time in game action vs. USC Upstate. All 10 newcomers saw the floor in the Tigers' 82-41 win on Nov. 25 and again vs. Gardner-Webb on Dec. 1.
›› Auburn added three junior college transfers during the offseason, including two NJCAA All-Americans:
›› Kira Lowery came to Auburn from Dyersburg State CC (Tenn.) where she ranked third in the nation in scoring (23.3 ppg) and second in steals (4.0/game) and was an NJCAA All-American in 2020. Lowery has started eight games at PG and leads Auburn with 1.8 assists/game.
›› Keya Patton was a two-time All-American at Wabash Valley College (Ill.), where she scored over 1,000 points in two seasons and averaged 20.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.4 steals as a sophomore. She scored a season-best 14 points vs. Gardner-Webb (12/1) and made her first Auburn start vs. Georgia (1/3).
›› Alycia Reese joins the Tigers from just down the road at Chattahoochee Valley CC in Phenix City, where she led the team with 12.8 points/game last season. Reese scored 10 points and hit Auburn's only two 3-pointers at Houston (12/5).
›› Sophomore Alaina Rice joined the Tigers in June after transferring from Florida A&M. Rice was MEAC Rookie of the Year in 2020 at FAMU where she averaged 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds. Rice led Auburn with 5 assists in the season-opener and scored 9 points vs. North Florida.
›› The Tigers signed two freshmen during the offseason: Romi Levy (6-2, F, Herzliya, Israel) and Aicha Coulibaly (6-0, F/G, Mali). Two others joined Auburn as walk-ons: Riley Donahue (5-10, G, Atlanta, Ga.) and Carsen McFadden (5-7, G, Fairview, Texas). Coulibaly started the first four games; Levy is averaging 6.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 steals. McFadden played significant minutes in the win over South Alabama, sharing the team lead with three assists.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn will host No. 12 Kentucky on Thursday, Jan. 21, in a game rescheduled from Jan. 14. Game time is 7:30 p.m. CT at Auburn Arena with a national broadcast on SEC Network.
Women's hoops returns to action Sunday at Florida
