AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team heads out for its sixth road game in SEC play, traveling to Athens, Ga., to face No. 24 Georgia at 6 p.m. CT Thursday.
The Tigers are coming off their best offensive performance in league play Sunday as sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a career-high 30 points in an 85-75 loss to Missouri. Georgia had Sunday off; in their last game, the Lady Bulldogs downed Alabama in overtime, 83-76, last Thursday.
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ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at 5:45 p.m. CT on WQSI 93.9 FM in Auburn; the game can also be heard on the Auburn Athletics app and online at AuburnTigers.com.
›› Thursday's game can be seen on SEC Network + with Matt Stewart and Christy Thomaskutty calling the action. SEC Network + is available via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a career-high 30 points, but Missouri's sharpshooters were too much for Auburn in an 85-75 loss Sunday afternoon at Auburn Arena.
›› Auburn put up its highest point total and best shooting percentage in an SEC game this season, but Missouri was even better, knocking down shots from both outside the arc and in the paint to hold off Auburn in the second half.
›› Scott-Grayson's 30-point effort was the top scoring performance by an Auburn player this season and the most since Unique Thompson had 31 at TCU last season. It was Auburn's best scoring effort in an SEC game since 32 points by Katie Frerking at Texas A&M in 2017, and the most points by an Auburn player in a home game since Brandy Montgomery scored 30 against Alabama on March 1, 2015.
›› Thompson shook off a slow start to pick up her 12th double-double of the year and 54th of her career with 14 points and 13 rebounds. She led Auburn with three assists, and she and Scott-Grayson also had two steals apiece.
›› Auburn shot 47 percent from the field (27-57), their best in SEC play and second-best overall this season, and were also 16-of-21 (76.2%) at the free-throw line. But Mizzou was 34-of-61 from the floor (55.7%), the best by an Auburn opponent this year. Missouri also out-rebounded Auburn 35-27 and won the battle in the paint 48-36.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn's first in Athens since 2015.
AUBURN-GEORGIA SERIES
›› Auburn is 19-32 all-time against Georgia, and UGA owns a 19-5 advantage in Athens. The Tigers' last win in Athens came in a 44-26 defensive struggle in 2015.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 3, 2021, in Auburn
Georgia 76, Auburn 44
›› Georgia's size and depth were too much to overcome for the Auburn women's basketball team as the Tigers fell 76-44 to the Lady Bulldogs at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers, without leading scorer and rebounder Unique Thompson for the second straight game, were unable to get much going on offense and turned the ball over a season-high 27 times. Georgia converted those turnovers into 26 points and had seven players score at least eight points in the game.
›› Junior Keya Patton was Auburn's only player in double figures with 12 points, going 6-of-7 at the free-throw line. Jala Jordan added nine points. Romi Levy added a career-best six steals, the most by an Auburn player this season. Alaina Rice and Honesty Scott-Grayson were the Tigers' top rebounders with four apiece.
›› Auburn shot 30.8 percent from the field (16-52) and hit just one 3-pointer on 11 tries. Georgia shot 50 percent on the day (31-62) and out-rebounded the Tigers 43-27.
SCOUTING GEORGIA
›› Georgia is 14-4 overall, 6-4 in SEC play. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked 24th in the Associated Press poll and 25th in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.They are 21st in the NCAA NET rankings.
›› The Lady Bulldogs average 72.2 points/game and are one of the SEC's top defensive teams, allowing just 59.3 points/game. They are the league's top free-throw shooting team (76.1%) and the second-best shot-blocking team in the SEC (6.1/game).
›› Jenna Staiti is the SEC's top shot-blocker (3.0/game) and UGA's leading scorer (14.3 ppg).
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior forward Unique Thompson leads the SEC and the nation with 13.5 rebounds per game this year and leads Auburn with 17.1 points/game. She has 12 double-doubles on the season, which ties for the lead in the SEC and is fourth nationally. Thompson pulled down her 1,000th career rebound against Belmont on Dec. 20 and is one of two active players nationally with over 1,000 career rebounds.
›› Thompson was unavailable the first three games of SEC play with medical issues, but made her return at Florida Jan. 17 and has recorded double-doubles in five of seven games since, including 18 points, 19 rebounds at Arkansas.
›› Redshirt sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson, a Baylor transfer who sat out 2019-20, has started all 18 games, averaging 13.8 points/game. She had a career-high 30 points against Missouri and has topped the 20-point mark three times. In SEC play, Scott-Grayson leads the Tigers with 16.5 points, 2.2 steals and 2.0 assists per game and is tied for second on the team with 5.0 rebounds/game.
›› Freshman Romi Levy and sophomore Alaina Rice have worked their way into the starting lineup, along with junior Keya Patton. Levy averages 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds; 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in SEC play. She had 12 rebounds at Arkansas. Rice averages 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in SEC play, and Patton has averaged 6.9 points in league games.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hosts rival Alabama at 5 p.m. CT Sunday at Auburn Arena. It's the annual Pink Game for the Tigers; fans are encouraged to wear pink. Tickets are available at AUBTix.com.
Women's hoops on the road at No. 24 Georgia
