NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The postseason begins for Auburn women's basketball Wednesday afternoon as the Tigers face Alabama in the first round of the 2022 SEC Tournament. Game time is approximately 1:30 p.m. CT at Bridgestone Arena.
The Tigers enter the SEC Tournament as the No. 14 seed at 10-17 overall, 2-14 in SEC play. Auburn's two wins in league play came over then-No. 4 Tennessee and then-No. 21 Georgia; should the Tigers defeat Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee would be the next two potential opponents in the tournament.
This is the third time the teams have met this season. Alabama won close games both times; a 56-53 squeaker in Tuscaloosa and a 75-68 contest at Auburn Arena. The last time Auburn and Alabama played in the SEC Tournament, Auburn held on for a 53-52 win in the 2019 tournament in Greenville, S.C.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at approximately 1:15 p.m. CT on WQSI 93.9 FM in Auburn. The broadcast can also be heard at AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› All early-round tournament games can be seen on SEC Network. Eric Frede, Tamika Catchings and Steffi Sorensen will call the action Wednesday.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn's Aicha Coulibaly and Precious Johnson recorded double-doubles, but Kentucky on its senior day was too much in a 90-62 loss Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.
›› Coulibaly and Johnson both finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. It was the fifth double-double of the season for Coulibaly and the first of Johnson's career; her scoring and rebound totals were both career-highs. Xaria Wiggins added a career-high nine rebounds.
›› Kentucky shot 51 percent from the floor while the Tigers were 21-of-72 (29%). Auburn had multiple second-chance opportunities, pulling down a season-best 27 offensive rebounds, but turned those into just 20 points. Overall, Auburn out-rebounded the Wildcats 49-35. UK turned 15 Auburn turnovers into 17 points, and the Kentucky bench outscored Auburn's 34-10. The Wildcats hit 10 3-pointers, a season-high by an Auburn opponent.
UP NEXT
›› With a win, Auburn would face 6th-seeded Georgia at 8:30 p.m. CT Thursday in the SEC Tournament second round.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Johnnie Harris' first SEC Tournament win as a head coach.
›› Snap a six-game skid against Alabama.
›› Even Auburn's all-time record in the SEC Tournament at 40-40.
AUBURN IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
›› This is the 43rd appearance in the SEC Tournament for Auburn. The Tigers are 39-40 all-time and own four SEC Tournament titles in 1981, 1987, 1990 and 1997.
›› This is coach Johnnie Harris' first appearance in the SEC Tournament as a head coach. She has been part of 11 previous SEC Tournaments as an assistant coach at Arkansas and Mississippi State. She helped lead MSU to the 2019 tournament title in Greenville, S.C.
›› Auburn is the No. 14 seed for the first time.
AUBURN-ALABAMA SERIES
›› This is the 98th meeting between Auburn and Alabama in women's basketball, their third meeting this season. It is the second-most played women's basketball series in the SEC, behind only Ole Miss-Mississippi State.
›› Auburn is 53-44 all-time against Alabama, but Alabama has won the last six meetings. Alabama owns a 5-4 advantage at neutral sites.
›› This is the sixth meeting between Auburn and Alabama in the SEC Tournament. Alabama is 3-2 in the previous five meetings, but Auburn won 53-52 in 2019 the last time the teams played in the tournament.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 23, 2022, at Auburn
Alabama 72, Auburn 65
›› In a game that saw nine ties and 14 lead changes, Auburn was unable to hold onto a halftime lead as Alabama found its shooting touch in the second half, leading to a 75-68 Crimson Tide at Auburn Arena.
›› A crowd of 4,196 fans – the third-largest for women's basketball in Auburn Arena history – were on hand to witness a celebration of the program's history and the unveiling of a banner honoring longtime coach Joe Ciampi.
›› The Tigers shot 47.5 percent from the floor, their best in SEC play, and were dead even with the Tide in rebounds and turnovers. But Alabama knocked down seven 3-pointers, tying for the most by an Auburn opponent this year, and took advantage of opportunities at the free-throw line, hitting 24-of-33 attempts to Auburn's 10-for-16.
›› Aicha Coulibaly led Auburn in scoring for the fourth straight game, hitting for 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. She filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. Precious Johnson, making her first start at home, led the Tigers with eight rebounds along with nine points.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
›› Alabama finished the regular season 15-13 overall and 6-10 in SEC play.
›› The Crimson Tide average 70.7 points/game while giving up 64.8. Alabama is one of the league's top 3-point shooting teams, hitting 7.9 per game.
›› Brittany Davis leads Alabama with 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn finished the regular season 10-17 overall, 2-14 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 fifth in the SEC in scoring with 17.3 points/game. She is also the Tigers' top rebounder with 7.6 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 five double-doubles this season, including 18 points and 10 rebounds at 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 13.0 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 .925 (74-80), 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.
›› Precious Johnson joined the Tigers in January after transferring from Texas and quickly made her way into the lineup. Johnson had the best game of her collegiate career Sunday at Kentucky with 18 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.
Tournament time: Tigers face Alabama to open SEC Tournament
