AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team will hit the road for its next two contests, beginning Thursday afternoon as the Tigers travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the Florida Gators. Game time is 4 p.m. CT at Exactech Arena on the UF campus.
The Tigers (8-6, 0-3) are still looking to break through for an SEC victory following two nailbiters to open the league season and a tough day at home against LSU on Sunday. Florida (11-5, 1-2) got on the board in league play Sunday with a double-overtime win on the road at Texas A&M.
ON THE AIR
›› JJ Jackson will have the radio call from courtside in Gainesville, 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.
›› Thursday's game can be seen live on SEC Network. Tiffany Greene and Christy Thomaskutty have the call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› No. 13 LSU jumped out to a big early lead, and Auburn was never able to recover as they fell 76-48 Sunday at Auburn Arena.
›› Auburn (8-6, 0-3 SEC) kept pace with their Tiger counterparts through the middle 20 minutes of the game, but the first and fourth quarters were all LSU (15-2, 3-1).
›› Auburn shot a season-low 24.2 percent from the floor (15-62) and made just one 3-pointer on the day. LSU controlled the boards, pulling down 50 rebounds to Auburn's 35, and outscored Auburn in the paint 42-24. LSU shot 29-of-63 (46.0%) from the field.
›› Despite playing limited minutes due to early foul trouble, Aicha Coulibaly led Auburn with 13 points and six rebounds. Honesty Scott-Grayson added 12, and Sania Wells had eight. Wells and Mar'Shaun Bostic had two assists apiece, and Bostic led Auburn with a pair of steals.
›› Sophomore center Precious Johnson, who transferred to Auburn during the semester break, made her Auburn debut Sunday, less than 36 hours after learning she had been granted eligibility by the NCAA. The 6-5 Texas transfer scored two points and had a rebound in just under nine minutes off the bench in her first game action since March.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be head coach Johnnie Harris' first SEC victory.
›› Be Auburn's first SEC win since Feb. 25, 2020, at Missouri.
›› Snap a three-game losing streak to Florida.
AUBURN-FLORIDA SERIES
›› Auburn is 38-24 all-time against Florida, including a narrow 13-12 edge in Gainesville. Florida, however, has won the last three meetings.
LAST MEETING: March 3, 2021, at Greenville, S.C.
Florida 59, Auburn 52
›› Auburn rallied from an 18-point third-quarter deficit to retake the lead midway through the fourth quarter, but a late Florida run ended the Tigers' comeback hopes in a 69-62 loss in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
›› The Tigers used a 23-2 run over a five-and-a-half minute stretch spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to turn a 52-34 deficit into a 57-54 lead. But the Gators answered with a 12-0 run of their own, and Auburn made just one field goal the rest of the way.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson, despite missing a big chunk of the first half after taking a shot to the face while diving for a loose ball, finished with 12 points and a team-leading three assists.
›› Senior Unique Thompson put a bow on her senior season with 14 points and 10 rebounds for her 58th career double-double, extending her all-time Auburn record and moving into a tie for seventh place in SEC history in career double-doubles. Eight of her 14 points came during Auburn's big run to take the lead early in the fourth quarter.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
›› Florida is 11-5 overall, 1-2 in SEC play. The Gators picked up one of their biggest wins of the year Sunday, winning 97-89 in double overtime on the road at Texas A&M. Florida has dropped contests to Georgia and Ole Miss so far in league play.
›› The Gators average 68.4 points per game while giving up 64.4.
›› Kiara Smith is the Gators' leading scorer with 13.2 points per game. She also leads the Gators' active players in rebounding (5.3), assists (4.4) and steals (2.8).
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 8-6, 0-3 in SEC play. The Tigers had two straight nailbiters go the opponents' way with a 3-point loss at Alabama and an overtime setback at Missouri to open league play, followed by a home loss to LSU Sunday.
›› 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 17.6 points/game. She is also the Tigers' top rebounder with 8.1 rebounds per game. She has topped the 20-point mark in five 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 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 13.1 points and 6.1 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 11.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Wells is the SEC's top free-throw shooter at .939 (46-49), which also ranks 6th 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 (33.6). 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.
›› Junior Jala Jordan has been exceptional on the defensive end, leading the Tigers with 14 blocks and pulling down 4.4 rebounds in 15.6 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.
›› Precious Johnson, a 6-5 transfer from Texas, joined the Tigers for the spring semester and made her Auburn debut Jan. 9 vs. LSU.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn plays its fourth road game in a five-game stretch, traveling to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M. Game time is 4 p.m. CT Sunday at Reed Arena.
Auburn women face road test at Florida
