AUBURN, Ala. – It's the final home game of the 2020-21 season for Auburn women's basketball Thursday night as No. 16 Arkansas visits Auburn Arena for an 8 p.m. CT tip.
Auburn senior forward Unique Thompson and senior manager Trey Larrimore will be recognized in a pregame ceremony, scheduled to begin at approximately 7:40 p.m.
Tickets are available at AUBTix.com or at the arena ticket office; all tickets are $6 and good for general admission in the 100 level of Auburn Arena. All persons inside Auburn Arena must wear a face covering at all times and practice appropriate social distancing; for more information, visit the women's basketball gameday page at AuburnTigers.com.
Thompson will play her final home game of a record-setting career on The Plains. She is Auburn's all-time leader in rebounds (1,123) and double-doubles (56) and has averaged a double-double for her career (14.1 points, 10.6 rebounds), one of just two players in Auburn history to do so. With one more double-double, she will enter the SEC's all-time top 10, tying for eighth place with three SEC women's basketball legends – Chamique Holdsclaw, Armintie Price and Alaina Coates.
It will be the second meeting of the season between Auburn and Arkansas; the teams met Jan. 31 in Fayetteville with the Razorbacks earning a 77-67 win. Thompson had 18 points and 19 rebounds in that game; Honesty Scott-Grayson added 17 points.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at 7:45 p.m. CT on WQSI 93.9 FM; the game can be heard online at AuburnTigers.com or via the official Auburn Athletics mobile app.
›› Thursday's game will air nationally on SEC Network with Eric Frede and Tamika Catchings calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn senior Unique Thompson set the all-time career rebounding record for Auburn and had a 22-point, 14-rebound night, but the Tigers let a halftime lead slip away in an 81-68 loss at Mississippi State Tuesday night.
›› Thompson's 1,119th career rebound came with 5:28 to play in the third quarter, moving her past Becky Jackson for the top spot in the Auburn record book. She will head into her Senior Night with 1,123 career boards.
›› Thompson's big night, along with a 24-point performance from Honesty Scott-Grayson, kept the Tigers in the game until late. But fatigue set in for the shorthanded Tigers – who dressed just eight players as a result of injuries and suspensions – and the Bulldogs pulled away late.
›› The Tigers led by as many as 10 in the second quarter and held a 42-36 lead at the half. But MSU outscored Auburn 21-8 in the third quarter to take a 57-50 lead after three. The Tigers would get as close as three points at 67-64 with 5:22 to play as they cut into a 10-point deficit with a 9-2 run. But Auburn would make just one field goal over the final five-plus minutes.
›› Auburn shot 38 percent from the field (25-66) to MSU's 46 percent (32-69). State out-rebounded Auburn 46-40 and had 23 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Improve Auburn to 7-2 on Senior Day under Coach Flo.
›› Be the 99th women's basketball victory at Auburn Arena.
AUBURN-ARKANSAS SERIES
›› Auburn is 23-18 all-time against Arkansas, including an 11-7 edge in Auburn. The Razorbacks have won the last three meetings between the teams and three of the last four at Auburn Arena.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 31, 2021, in Fayetteville
#19 Arkansas 77, Auburn 67
›› Unique Thompson finished with 18 points and 19 rebounds, but a great start for Auburn gave way to a hot-shooting Arkansas team as the Tigers fell to the 19th-ranked Razorbacks 77-67 Sunday afternoon.
›› The Tigers led by as many as 13 points midway through the first half, but a big run by the Razorbacks in the second quarter gave Arkansas a lead it would not relinquish.
›› Thompson's 18-point, 19-rebound effort was her 11th double-double of the season and 53rd of her career. Honesty Scott-Grayson added 17 points and led Auburn with three assists, and Keya Patton scored 10. Romi Levy had a career-high 12 rebounds along with eight points.
›› The Tigers pulled down a season-high 50 rebounds to Arkansas' 30 and turned 20 offensive boards into 20 second-chance points, both season-highs. But the Tigers shot 34 percent from the floor (23-67) while Arkansas was at 44 percent (26-59), and the Razorbacks hit 11 3-pointers to Auburn's two. Auburn had a great night at the free-throw line, hitting 19-of-21.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS
›› Arkansas is 17-7 overall, 7-6 in SEC play. The Razorbacks have one of the season's signature wins in women's basketball with a victory over UConn on Jan. 28.
›› Arkansas leads the SEC and ranks 6th nationally in scoring offense with 84.0 points/game. They're the nation's 7th-best team in 3-point shooting (39.2%) and third-best in fewest turnovers per game (10.6).
›› Chelsea Dungee leads the SEC and is 13th nationally with 22.5 points/game; she's the nation's leader in free throws made (155) and attempted (194). Four Razorbacks average double-digit scoring.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior forward Unique Thompson leads the SEC and is 2nd in the nation with 13.1 rebounds per game this year, and she leads Auburn with 18.0 points/game. She has 14 double-doubles on the season, which leads 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.
›› She set the Auburn career record in rebounds with her 1,119th on Feb. 23 at Mississippi State. The previous record of 1,118 by Becky Jackson had stood since 1984.
›› 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 seven of 10 games since.
›› Redshirt sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson, a Baylor transfer who sat out 2019-20, has started all 21 games, averaging 14.8 points/game. She had a career-high 30 points against Missouri, added 25 against Alabama and has topped the 20-point mark five times. In SEC play, Scott-Grayson averages 17.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.8 assists per game.
›› Freshman Romi Levy and sophomore Alaina Rice have worked their way into the starting lineup. Levy averages 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds; she had 12 rebounds the last meeting with Arkansas. Rice averages 5.4 points and a team-leading 2.3 assists in SEC play, including a career-high 9 assists vs. Alabama.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn closes out the 2020-21 regular season Sunday on the road, traveling to Knoxville to face the 20th-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Game time is 1 p.m. CT with a national broadcast on SEC Network.
Senior Night: Tigers host No. 16 Arkansas in home finale
