AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team plays its fourth road game in five SEC contests Sunday when they travel to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M. Game time is 4 p.m. CT at Reed Arena.
The Tigers (8-7, 0-4) are still in search of that elusive first league win after three heartbreakers in their first four conference games. Auburn led in the final minute at Florida Thursday night but could not hold on as the Gators pulled ahead for a 68-63 win in Gainesville.
Texas A&M (10-6, 0-4) is also seeking its first SEC victory after a tough opening stretch to conference play where they've faced the league's three best teams. The Aggies fell 65-45 at No. 1 South Carolina on Thursday.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call from Reed Arena beginning at 3:45 p.m. CT on WQSI 93.9 FM. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics mobile app.
›› The game will be broadcast on SEC Network with John Brickley and Andrea Lloyd on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Aicha Coulibaly scored an SEC-high 24 points and Auburn led with less than a minute to go, but Florida ended the game on an 8-0 run to hand the Tigers a 68-63 loss Thursday at the O'Connell Center.
›› The Tigers (8-7, 0-4 SEC) fought back from as much as a 13-point deficit to take the lead late in the fourth quarter – Auburn led 63-60 with just over a minute to play – but were unable to seal the deal as Florida hit six free throws in the final seconds.
›› Coulibaly led all scorers with her 24 points and also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. She was the only Tiger in double-figures; Honesty Scott-Grayson had nine points, Sania Wells added eight, and Precious Johnson scored seven in her first collegiate start. Scott-Grayson led the Tigers with three assists, and Mar'Shaun Bostic had three steals off the bench.
›› Auburn out-shot the Gators 41 to 38 percent, and both teams knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. But Auburn uncharacteristically struggled at the free-throw line, missing nine attempts (17-26) while the Gators were nearly flawless at 20-for-23 (87%). The Tigers outrebounded Florida 37-36 and cut down on the turnovers late with just five in the second half.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be head coach Johnnie Harris' first SEC victory.
›› Be Auburn's first SEC win since Feb. 25, 2020, at Missouri.
›› Be the Tigers' first-ever win over Texas A&M.
AUBURN-TEXAS A&M SERIES
›› Auburn is 0-15 all-time against Texas A&M, including an 0-6 record in College Station.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 28, 2021, at Auburn
#8 Texas A&M 84, Auburn 69
›› Auburn got 21 points from Honesty Scott-Grayson and 18 from Unique Thompson, but No. 8 Texas A&M shot lights-out in the second half as the Tigers fell 84-69 Thursday night at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers kept the Aggies in their sights through three-plus quarters and had one of their best shooting nights in SEC play, but A&M shot 69 percent in the second half and 83 percent in the fourth quarter to pull away in the closing minutes.
›› For the night, Auburn shot 41.3 percent (26-63) and hit 10 3-pointers, their best in SEC play. But Texas A&M hit for 51.7 percent (31-60), including 67 percent from the second quarter on. The Aggies also made the most of 18 trips to the free-throw line, knocking down 14; Auburn was 7-for-8.
›› Scott-Grayson topped the 20-point mark for the second time in SEC play. She and Thompson shared the Auburn lead with three steals apiece. Thompson saw her streak of 10 straight double-doubles come to an end but led the Tigers with seven rebounds. She also made her first career 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter for Auburn's final points of the night.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
›› Texas A&M is 10-6 overall, 0-4 in SEC play. The Aggies have faced three ranked opponents so far in league play, coming up short to LSU, Tennessee and South Carolina, along with a double-overtime loss to Florida.
›› The Aggies average 72.4 points per game while giving up 63.2. Texas A&M is the SEC's top 3-point shooting team at 40.5% from long-range; they average 6.9 made 3s per game.
›› Kayla Wells is the Aggies' top scorer with 16.7 points per game to rank 7th in the SEC.
›› It will be a reunion for Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris and associate head coach Bob Starkey as they will face their former boss in Aggie head coach Gary Blair. Harris was part of Blair's A&M staff from 2007-12, and Starkey was on the A&M bench from 2012 through last season.
›› In addition, Auburn assistant coach Damitria Buchanan played for the Aggies from 2006-10.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 8-7, 0-4 in SEC play. The Tigers have dropped three heartbreakers in SEC road games so far, the last being a 68-63 loss at Florida on Thursday where the Tigers led in the final minute.
›› With wins at No. 18 Georgia Tech on Nov. 21 and at home over Oklahoma State on Dec. 5, the Tigers have two wins over non-conference Power 5 opponents for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
›› Sophomore Aicha Coulibaly leads Auburn and is fourth in the SEC in scoring with 18.0 points/game. She is also the Tigers' top rebounder with 8.1 rebounds per game. She has topped the 20-point mark in six contests, scoring a career-high 27 against Charleston Southern, 23 against North Florida, 25 vs. Oklahoma State, 24 at Belmont, 23 vs. Kennesaw State, and 24 at Florida. She also has three double-doubles this season, including 17 points and 12 rebounds at Alabama. For her efforts against UNF and OSU, she was named SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 7.
›› Redshirt junior Honesty Scott-Grayson is averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 rebounds, and she has recorded two double-doubles. She was the Tigers' leading returner from 2020-21 in most statistical categories: scoring (14.5 ppg), rebounding (4.1 rpg), assists (1.7 apg), steals (2.1 APG) and shooting (.406 FG/.301 3FG/.761 FT).
›› Junior Sania Wells has returned to her natural position of point guard and is averaging 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Wells is the SEC's top free-throw shooter at .925 (49-53), which also ranks 10th nationally. She scored a career-high 20 points at Missouri on Jan. 6.
›› Junior Annie Hughes and redshirt senior Kiyae' White have been key components of the starting lineup as well. Hughes is the only Tiger to appear in every game since the start of the 2019-20 season and is among the SEC leaders in minutes played (33.4). White missed all but one game last season, but as a redshirt sophomore in 2019-20, she averaged 4.0 points and 4.8 rebounds. Hughes scored a career-high 21 points and hit 5 3-pointers against Charleston Southern on Nov. 26. White had a season-high 9 rebounds at Mizzou.
›› Precious Johnson, a 6-5 transfer from Texas, joined the Tigers for the spring semester and made her Auburn debut Jan. 9 vs. LSU, then made her first collegiate start four days later at Florida, scoring 7 points along with 5 rebounds.
UP NEXT
›› After an open date, the Tigers are back in action Sunday, Jan. 23, as they host Alabama at Auburn Arena. Game time is 3 p.m. CT.
›› The Jan. 23 game vs. Alabama is Auburn's Alumni Weekend game, which will include a pregame ceremony to unveil a banner honoring longtime Auburn head coach Joe Ciampi.
Tigers ready for showdown with Aggies Sunday
