AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team hits the road again as they travel to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri at 7 p.m. CT Thursday.
Auburn (8-4, 0-1 SEC) looks to bounce back after coming up just short in a 56-53 loss at Alabama Sunday afternoon. Trailing by as many as 13, the Tigers fought back to a one-possession game in the final minute but were unable to complete the comeback.
Missouri (12-2, 1-0) will play their first game since pulling the biggest upset of the college basketball season to date as they stunned No. 1 South Carolina 70-69 in overtime last Thursday. Mizzou is receiving votes in both the AP and coaches' polls this week.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 6:45 p.m. CT. The game can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics mobile app.
›› Thursday's game will be shown on SEC Network + with Ben Arnet and Brad Loos calling the action. SEC Network + is available via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app for mobile devices and smart TVs.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Aicha Coulibaly picked up her third double-double of the season, and Auburn cut a 13-point deficit to three in the final minute but could not overtake Alabama, falling 56-53 Sunday in the SEC opener at Coleman Coliseum.
›› Sania Wells knocked down a 3-pointer with a minute to play to cut Alabama's lead to 54-51 and got a stop on the Tide's ensuing possession, but the Tigers (8-4, 0-1) were unable to get a good look, and Alabama (10-3, 1-1) made late free throws to secure the win.
›› Coulibaly recorded her second straight double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds; it was her third of the season. Honesty Scott-Grayson also had 17 points to share the team lead. Sania Wells added nine points.
›› Auburn shot 30.0 percent from the field (18-60) and was just 3-of-15 from long range. Alabama was not much better at 31 percent overall, 22.2 percent on 3-pointers. Turnovers were costly for Auburn early; Alabama got 10 points of 12 Auburn giveaways in the opening 20 minutes. The Tide out-rebounded Auburn 46-43.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be head coach Johnnie Harris' first SEC victory.
›› Be Auburn's second straight win at Mizzou Arena.
›› Be Auburn's first SEC win since Feb. 25, 2020, at Missouri.
AUBURN-MISSOURI SERIES
›› Auburn is 6-8 all-time against Missouri and trail 4-1 in games played in Columbia. The Tigers won their last game at Mizzou Arena, a 95-82 win on Feb. 27, 2020.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 7, 2021, at Auburn
Missouri 85, Auburn 75
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a career-high 30 points, but Missouri's sharpshooters were too much for Auburn in an 85-75 loss at Auburn Arena.
›› Auburn put up its highest point total and best shooting percentage in an SEC game to that point in the 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 in 2020-21 and the most since Unique Thompson had 31 at TCU in 2019. 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.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
›› Missouri is 12-2 overall, 1-0 in SEC play. The Tigers stunned the basketball world last Thursday as they upset No. 1 South Carolina 70-69 in overtime, despite having just eight players available. Mizzou's game scheduled for Sunday at Vanderbilt was postponed due to COVID issues.
›› Missouri averages 74.1 points per game while allowing 61.9. The Tigers are the SEC's top-shooting team from the floor (47.3%) and the free-throw line (72.2%). They also average 8.1 made 3-pointers per game, second-best in the league.
›› Aijha Blackwell averages 16.6 points and is the SEC's top rebounder with 12.7 per game.
›› Former Auburn standout Katie Frerking is Mizzou's director of recruiting operations.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 8-4, 0-1 in SEC play. The Tigers fought to the finish in a tough loss at Alabama Jan. 2 in their first game in nearly two weeks.
›› 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 third in the SEC in scoring with 182 points/game. She is also the Tigers' top rebounder with 8.2 rebounds per game. She has topped the 20-point mark in five of the last seven contests, scoring a career-high 27 against Charleston Southern, 23 against North Florida, 25 vs. Oklahoma State, 24 at Belmont and 23 vs. Kennesaw State. She also has double-doubles in her last two games, 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 13.0 points and 6.6 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 10.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Wells is the SEC's top free-throw shooter at .932 (41-44), which also ranks 12th nationally.
›› 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 leads the SEC in minutes played (35.0). 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.
›› Junior Jala Jordan has been exceptional on the defensive end, leading the Tigers with 11 blocks and pulling down 4.8 rebounds in 16.2 minutes/game off the bench. She recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds against Grambling on Dec. 18, and she made her first start of the season at Alabama on Jan. 2.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn plays its first home game in nearly three weeks Sunday when No. 13 LSU visits Auburn Arena for the Tigers' SEC home opener. Game time is 4 p.m. CT with a broadcast on SEC Network.
Auburn women's hoops at Missouri Thursday
