AUBURN, Ala. – The 2021-22 regular season comes to a close Sunday as the Auburn women's basketball team travels to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Game time is 3 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum.
The Tigers will look for some momentum heading into the SEC Tournament after coming up short to Ole Miss Thursday night in their home finale. Kentucky, meanwhile, has won five straight and is making a late push for a postseason bid.
The teams met earlier this season in Auburn with Kentucky pulling away late for a 67-55 win at Auburn Arena on Jan. 25.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM in Auburn beginning at 2:45 p.m. CT. The game can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› Sunday's game can be seen on SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Mike Thibault calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn fell in a deep hole in the first quarter and could never claw its way out as Ole Miss defeated the Tigers 72-52 Thursday night at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers played catch-up from the start and were mostly even with the Rebels through the final three periods, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 13 points and six rebounds, and Jala Jordan added 11 off the bench. Xaria Wiggins made the most of her Senior Night with a season-high seven points. Mar'Shaun Bostic had a team-best four assists.
›› Ole Miss shot 50 percent from the floor to Auburn's 32.1, and the Rebels controlled the paint 34-18. Ole Miss also had 43 rebounds to Auburn's 21, scoring 17 second-chance points off 15 offensive boards.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn's third SEC win of the season.
›› Be the Tigers' first win in Lexington since 2006.
›› Snap a seven-game skid against Kentucky.
AUBURN-KENTUCKY SERIES
›› Auburn and Kentucky have met 52 previous times with each team winning 26. The Wildcats hold an 11-10 edge in Lexington and have won 14 of the last 15 meetings.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 25, 2022, at Auburn
Kentucky 67, Auburn 55
›› Auburn rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to take a lead in the final five minutes, but the Tigers could not overcome a late Kentucky run in a 67-55 loss Tuesday night at Auburn Arena.
›› A 3-pointer by Honesty Scott-Grayson with 7:24 to play gave Auburn its first lead of the night at 48-45, and the Tigers still led by three, 53-50, with 4:39 remaining. But Auburn would make just one more shot the rest of the way as the Wildcats ended the game on a 17-2 run.
›› Aicha Coulibaly recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, both team highs. She also led Auburn with four steals. Honesty Scott-Grayson scored 10 points, all in the second half. Jala Jordan added nine points off the bench, and Mar'Shaun Bostic had a game-high four assists.
›› Missed layups by Auburn and second-chance opportunities for Kentucky proved to be the difference. UK got 16 offensive rebounds, the most by an Auburn opponent this season, turning those into 13 second-chance points. In total rebounds, Kentucky had 43 to Auburn's 34. The Wildcats also scored 13 points off 15 Auburn turnovers, nine of those coming in the first half. Auburn was 18-of-54 from the field (33.3%) and matched a season-high with seven 3-pointers.
SCOUTING KENTUCKY
›› Kentucky is 14-11 overall, 7-8 in SEC play, and enters Sunday's game on a five-game winning streak.
›› The Wildcats average 71.1 points per game while holding opponents to 65.5. Over their last five games, the Cats are outscoring opponents 74.6-64.0.
›› Rhyne Howard averages 19.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game overall; in SEC play, she averages 20.7 and 8.9.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 10-16, 2-13 in SEC play. The Tigers finally broke through with a stunning 71-61 win over No. 4 Tennessee on Jan. 27, snapping a 23-game SEC losing streak, then added another top-25 win with a 65-60 victory over No. 21 Georgia on Feb. 20.
›› In Auburn's losses, the Tigers have led in the fourth quarter in six games and have been within one possession in the final minute of regulation seven times.
›› Sophomore Aicha Coulibaly leads Auburn and is fourth in the SEC in scoring with 17.3 points/game. She is also the Tigers' top rebounder with 7.5 rebounds per game (10th SEC). She has topped the 20-point mark in nine contests, scoring a career-high 27 against Charleston Southern, 23 against North Florida, 25 vs. Oklahoma State, 24 at Belmont, 23 vs. Kennesaw State, 24 at Florida, 26 vs. Tennessee, 21 at Vanderbilt and 24 vs. Mississippi State. She also has four double-doubles this season, including 14 points and 11 rebounds vs. Kentucky. 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 13.1 points and 5.7 rebounds, and she has recorded three double-doubles, including 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds vs. Florida (2/13). She scored a season-high 23 points at Arkansas (2/10) and matched that with 23 against Georgia (2/20).
›› Junior guard Sania Wells is the SEC's top free-throw shooter at .924 (73-79), which also ranks 5th nationally. She scored a career-high 20 points at Missouri on Jan. 6.
›› Annie Hughes is the only Tiger to appear in every game since the start of the 2019-20 season. Hughes scored a career-high 21 points and hit 5 3-pointers against Charleston Southern on Nov. 26. She also hit a key 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter that was a dagger in the Tigers' upset of No. 4 Tennessee.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn will be the No. 14 seed in the 2022 SEC Tournament in Nashville and will play at 1:30 p.m. CT (approx.) Wednesday. Broadcast is set for SEC Network.
›› Depending on Sunday's results, Auburn's opponent could be Alabama or Vanderbilt.
Women's hoops wraps up regular season at Kentucky
