AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team will begin the home portion of its SEC schedule Sunday afternoon when the Georgia Lady Bulldogs come to town for a 2 p.m. CT tip at Auburn Arena.
Tickets are available at AuburnTigers.com and at the arena ticket office; all tickets are $6 and valid for general admission seating in the 100 level of the arena. All persons inside Auburn Arena must wear a face covering at all times, sit in designated seats, and maintain appropriate social distancing. Visit the Women's Basketball Gameday page at AuburnTigers.com for more information.
The Tigers (5-4, 0-1 SEC) look to bounce back after dropping a low-scoring affair at LSU on New Year's Eve, 56-43, to open conference play. A bright spot in that game was the play of Auburn's two freshmen, Romi Levy and Aicha Coulibaly, who combined for 20 points and 16 rebounds on the night. Georgia (8-1, 0-1 SEC) fell for the first time this season in its SEC opener as No. 12 Mississippi State left Athens with a 69-62 win.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at 1:45 p.m. CT. The game can be heard locally on WQSI 93.9 FM and online at AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Tigers app.
›› The game is slated for a national broadcast on SEC Network with Richard Cross and Renee Montgomery calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn got strong play from its freshmen in their first SEC road game, but second-half turnover troubles plagued Auburn in a 56-43 loss at LSU Thursday night.
›› Auburn (5-4, 0-1 SEC) led by eight at halftime and got a combined 20 points and 16 rebounds from freshmen Romi Levy and Aicha Coulibaly, but relentless pressure from LSU (3-4, 1-0) led to 24 turnovers that LSU converted into 22 points.
›› Coulibaly led Auburn with a career-high 12 points. Levy added eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds, along with 5 steals. As a team, Auburn shot a season-low 28.3 percent from the field (17-60) and 3-of-18 (16.7%) from 3-point range. Auburn pulled down 39 rebounds to LSU's 43 and forced LSU into 19 turnovers.
›› Auburn was without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Unique Thompson, who missed the game for medical reasons.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Snap a two-game losing streak.
›› Be Auburn's second straight home win over Georgia.
›› Be the 99th win for women's basketball at Auburn Arena.
AUBURN-GEORGIA SERIES
›› Auburn is 19-31 all-time against Georgia, but the Tigers own an 11-10 advantage in Auburn. The Tigers defeated Georgia 59-58 in overtime in the teams' last meeting at Auburn Arena.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 19, 2020 in Athens
Georgia 61, Auburn 50
›› Auburn played its best first half of basketball in SEC play but was unable to sustain its strong play for 40 minutes as Georgia pulled away late for a 61-50 win at Stegeman Coliseum.
›› After leading at the half for the first time in SEC play, the Tigers went ice cold in the second half, shooting just 20 percent in the final 20 minutes as Georgia went on a 19-3 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to put the game away.
›› Unique Thompson recorded her 15th double-double in 16 games with a 13-point, 11-rebound performance that saw most of her scoring come at the free-throw line; she made 9-of-13 attempts. Daisa Alexander made her return from an ankle injury that sidelined her the last two games, leading Auburn with 17 points.
›› For the game, Auburn shot 28.3 percent, tying for their second-lowest percentage of the season. But it was the second half that was the difference – Auburn made just 5 of 25 shots from the field (20%) while Georgia hit 10-of-18 in the third quarter and 15-of-31 (48.3%) for the half. The Tigers forced 18 Georgia turnovers but converted those into just nine points, all in the first half. Georgia scored 19 points off 17 Auburn turnovers and outscored the Tigers on fast breaks 19-4.
SCOUTING GEORGIA
›› Georgia is 8-1 overall, 0-1 in SEC play. The Lady Bulldogs breezed through non-conference play with signature wins over Oklahoma and Georgia Tech, but dropped their first SEC game, 69-62 at home to No. 12 Mississippi State.
›› The Lady Bulldogs average 78.7 points per game and hold opponents to 56.9. Georgia shoots 46.3% from the field and is one of the nation's top shot-blocking teams, averaging 6.7/game to rank ninth nationally.
›› Jenna Staiti is Georgia's leader in scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg) and blocks (2.9/game). She ranks 12th in the nation and leads the SEC in blocked shots.
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 also the national leader 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.
›› 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 nine games and had a career-high 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 8.4 points/game; she's also the Tigers' second-leading rebounder (4.3/game) and leading shot-blocker (1.0/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. 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 1.9 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).
›› 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 offeseason: 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 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds. McFadden played significant minutes in the win over South Alabama, sharing the team lead with three assists.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hits the road for the second time in league play, traveling to Oxford, Miss., to take on Ole Miss on Thursday. Game time is 6 p.m. CT at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Tigers open home SEC slate with Georgia
