AUBURN, Ala. – A three-game home stand begins for the Auburn women's basketball team Monday night as they welcome the Florida Gators to the Plains. Game time is 6 p.m. at Neville Arena.
The Tigers look to keep rolling after two straight SEC victories, the last being a thrilling 71-68 victory at Kentucky Thursday night for their first road win of the season.
Monday's game features special appearances from two local groups. Students from Creekside Elementary School in Auburn will sing the national anthem, and the Recycled Teenagers from Opelika will perform at halftime.
Tickets are available at the Neville Arena ticket office on game day or by visiting AUBTix.com.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 5:45 p.m. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› Monday's game can be seen on SEC Network with Brenda VanLengen and Steffi Sorensen on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Aicha Coulibaly scored 20 points, Sania Wells added a season-high 16, and Auburn never trailed in the second half while holding off a hard-charging Kentucky for a 71-68 win Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum.
›› Auburn took a nine-point lead to the fourth quarter, but quickly saw Kentucky chip away and pull within two points in the final minute. Wells made two clutch free throws to push the advantage back to four, the Wildcats answered with two of their own, and then Auburn turned it over with 15 seconds left to give UK a chance to win the ballgame.
›› Much like it did in Sunday's win over Ole Miss, the Tigers got a stop, fought for a rebound and won a jump ball with the arrow in their favor with one second left and leading 70-68. Honesty Scott-Grayson was quickly fouled, she made one of two, and time expired on Auburn's first win in Lexington since 2006.
›› Coulibaly's 20 points led all scorers and gives her 51 in her last two games. Wells' 16 was a season-high; she was 6-of-8 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. Scott-Grayson added 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds and four steals, and Jakayla Johnson had a stellar night at the point guard spot, dishing out a career-high six assists.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give the Tigers a three-game SEC winning streak for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
›› Surpass the SEC win total from last season.
›› Snap a 5-game skid against Florida.
›› Improve Auburn to 11-3 at home this year.
AUBURN-KENTUCKY SERIES
›› Auburn is 38-26 all-time against Florida with a 16-8 advantage at home. The Gators, however have won the last five in the series. The last three games between the teams have been decided by seven points or less.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 14, 2022, at Auburn
#17 Florida 83, Auburn 77
›› Auburn went toe-to-toe with 17th-ranked Florida, but was unable to make enough plays down the stretch as the Gators held on for an 83-77 win at Auburn Arena.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson recorded her third double-double of the year, leading the Tigers with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Aicha Coulibaly fought early foul trouble to finish with 15 points and seven boards, Annie Hughes added 13 and Sania Wells had 12 points and six assists. Jala Jordan knocked down three 3-pointers to finish with nine points.
›› The Tigers hit a season-high eight 3-pointers – three apiece from Jordan and Hughes – and shot 43.1 percent from the field (28-65), hitting one more shot than the Gators. The teams were dead even in rebounding at 38 apiece (16 offensive, 22 defensive for both teams), but the deep Florida bench scored 28 points to Auburn's seven.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
›› Florida is 13-7 overall, 2-5 in SEC play. The Gators have earned wins over Texas A&M and Vanderbilt in SEC play so far.
›› The Gators average 73.5 points/game while holding opponents to 67.4.
›› Four Gators average double-digit scoring, led by KK Deans with 14.3 points/game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 12-8 overall, 2-6 in SEC play after two straight SEC wins, the last coming on the road at Kentucky Thursday night. The Tigers won seven straight to close out non-conference play, the last six coming at home. The Tigers are 10-3 at home this season.
›› The Tigers rank 12th nationally with 5.3 blocks per game. Auburn is also top-50 nationally in turnovers forced per game at 19.7 (38th) and turnover margin at +4.1 (45th).
›› Junior Aicha Coulibaly leads Auburn in scoring (17.7 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg) and steals (2.5 spg); her steals average is tops in the SEC. She has two double-doubles this season, with her last coming against UCF Dec. 3 (17 points, 12 rebounds). Coulibaly missed the Tigers' last three games of non-conference but has been the leading scorer in each of Auburn's first three SEC games. She then missed SEC games vs. Alabama and LSU with an injury, returning to the lineup with 15 points at Mississippi State. She then scored a career-high 31 points vs. Ole Miss, tied for the most by any SEC player in a conference game so far this season, and followed that up with 20 points at Kentucky.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson averages 14.0 points to rank second on the team and 14th in the SEC. She led Auburn in scoring in seven of the last eight games in non-conference play, topping the 20-point mark four times including a career-high 31 against North Carolina A&T. She is also the Tigers' top 3-point shooter, hitting 43.5% from long range (30-69). She missed the first three games of SEC play with minor injuries but returned to the bench vs. Alabama and to the starting lineup at LSU.
›› Redshirt sophomore Romi Levy recorded double-doubles against both Alabama State and Little Rock. Against Little Rock, she had career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (13) for her second career double-double.
›› Sophomore Mar'Shaun Bostic has been a defensive spark off the bench, grabbing three steals and three rebounds in each of the last two games. She scored a career-high 11 points in the win over Ole Miss.
›› Senior Sania Wells has had three big games in SEC play, scoring a season-high 16 points in the win at Kentucky along with 13 against both South Carolina and Alabama. She was the SEC's leading free-throw shooter last year at 90.5% (76-84) and is currently 4th all-time at Auburn in career free-throw percentage.
›› Freshman point guard Sydney Shaw leads the Tigers with 2.9 assists/game. She scored a career-high 15 points and matched a season-best with 6 assists in the win over Louisiana-Lafayette, and she scored at least 14 points in 3 of the last 4 non-conference games. Shaw is Auburn's third-leading scorer with 8.1 points/game.
›› Auburn's newcomers have all made an immediate impact with three freshmen - Kaitlyn Duhon, 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, then had 10 points at LSU. Junior Jakayla Johnson has earned 11 starts, scoring 8+ points in three of those and posting a career-high 6 assists at Kentucky.
UP NEXT
›› After an open date Thursday, the Tigers are back in action Sunday, Feb. 5, as they host Arkansas at Neville Arena. Game time is 2 p.m. CT with the broadcast on SEC Network.
Auburn women host Florida for Monday night hoops
