AUBURN, Ala. – Non-conference play continues for the Auburn women's basketball team Thursday night when the Tigers take on North Carolina A&T. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at Neville Arena.
Fans who attend Wednesday's men's basketball game vs. Georgia State can show their ticket from that game at the Neville Arena ticket office and receive free admission to Thursday's women's game. Tickets are also available for purchase at the arena, online at AUBTix.com or by calling 855-282-2010.
The Tigers (7-2) are coming off back-to-back 40-point wins, an 86-46 win over UCF last Saturday and an 81-41 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette Sunday. North Carolina A&T (5-3) defeated Johnson & Wales 110-40 in their last contest.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 6:45 p.m. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game can be seen on SEC Network + with the Auburn Sports Network radio call. SEC Network + is available via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Led by a career-high 15 points from freshman Sydney Shaw, four players scored in double figures as Auburn dominated Louisiana-Lafayette 81-41 Sunday at Neville Arena.
›› The Tigers (7-2) won by 40 points for the second straight game, shooting a season-high 56.3% and using a 21-3 third quarter to pull away from the Ragin' Cajuns (5-5).
›› Shaw and Aicha Coulibaly each scored 15 points to lead the Tigers. Shaw also matched a career-high with six assists. Honesty Scott-Grayson continued her hot streak with a 13-point day, hitting three 3-pointers. Sania Wells added 10 points off the bench, and Romi Levy pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds.
›› Auburn was lights-out all day, shooting over 71.4 percent in the second half to finish at 56.3 percent, the best mark of the season. The Tigers pulled down 39 rebounds to ULL's 29 and turned 20 Cajun turnovers into 25 points.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give the Tigers a 7-0 advantage in their series with North Carolina A&T.
›› Improve Auburn to 7-1 at home this season.
›› Be the Tigers' fifth straight win.
›› Push Auburn's record to 8-2, the Tigers' best start since 2018-19 (12-1).
AUBURN-N.C. A&T SERIES
›› Auburn and North Carolina A&T are meeting for the seventh time. Auburn has won each of the previous six meetings, four in Auburn and two in Greensboro.
LAST MEETING: Nov. 16, 2017, at Auburn
Auburn 63, North Carolina A&T 53
›› Three players scored in double-figures to lead the Auburn women's basketball team to a 63-53 victory over North Carolina A&T, the 900th victory in program history.
›› Janiah McKay scored 15 points and added a career-high eight rebounds to go along with five assists and four steals, leading the Tigers to their 39th consecutive victory in a home opener.
›› Alexander added 12 points off the bench, and Unique Thompson had 11 points with seven rebounds. Jessica Jones added 10 rebounds off the bench, and Emari Jones, making her first career start, had six points and six rebounds.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
›› North Carolina A&T is 5-3 on the season. Three of their five wins have come against non-Division I opponents.
›› The Aggies average 77.1 points per game and hold opponents to 58.4. A&T ranks ninth nationally in rebound margin (+12.6) and eighth in offensive rebounds per game (17.8). They are also 15th in the country in 3-point defense, holding opponents to 23.6% from beyond the arc.
›› Jazmin Harris leads the Aggies with 15.6 points per game and Maleia Bracone adds 15.1.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› The Tigers rank 3rd nationally with 6.7 blocks per game and 27th in the country with 15.3 offensive rebounds per contest. Auburn is also top-50 nationally in 3-point percentage at 36.6% (35th) and scoring offense at 76.9 points/game (48th).
›› Junior Aicha Coulibaly is fifth in the SEC in scoring (16.8 ppg) and fourth in steals (2.3 spg). Those numbers rank her 87th nationally in scoring and 95th in steals. She has two double-doubles this season, with her last coming against UCF Dec. 3 (17 points, 12 rebounds). She was a preseason All-SEC Second Team selection.
›› Through nine games, Honesty Scott-Grayson averages 14.2 points to rank second on the team and 14th in the SEC. She led Auburn in scoring four straight games from Nov. 25-Dec. 3, scoring 20-plus in three of those four. She is also the Tigers' top 3-point shooter so far, hitting 48.6% from long range (17-of-35).
›› Redshirt sophomore Romi Levy recorded double-doubles against both Alabama State and Little Rock. Last week vs. Little Rock, she had career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (13) for her second career double-double. She has started the last three games.
›› Senior Sania Wells was the SEC's leading free-throw shooter in 2021-22, hitting 90.5% of her attempts (76-84). That percentage ranked sixth in the nation. Wells has topped the 10-point mark twice this year and is 8-10 at the FT line so far this season.
›› Freshman point guard Sydney Shaw leads the Tigers with 3.4 assists/game, which ranks 12th in the SEC and leads SEC freshmen. She scored a career-high 15 points and matched a season-best with 6 assists in the win over Louisiana-Lafayette.
›› Auburn's newcomers have all made an immediate impact with three freshmen - Kaitlyn Duhon, Sydney Shaw and Kharyssa Richardson - starting each of the first six games. Duhon scored 17 points in the win over South Alabama. Richardson had a season-high 9 rebounds vs. Colorado State before leaving the game with injury. Junior Jakayla Johnson has earned starts the last three games, averaging 5.0 points in those starts.
IT'S A BLOCK PARTY
›› Auburn has recorded 60 blocked shots through nine games (6.7/game), which ranks third in the nation and second in the SEC. That number is nearly two-thirds of the way to the total from all of last season (96) and surpasses the total from 2020-21 (53) and 2019-20 (58).
›› Three players - Aicha Coulibaly, Romi Levy and Kaitlyn Duhon - are averaging at least one block per game.
UP NEXT
›› The Tigers play their fifth straight home game Sunday as in-state rival Samford visits Neville Arena. Tip is set for noon CT with a national broadcast on SEC Network.
Women's hoops back in action Thursday vs. N.C. A&T
