AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn women's basketball is back on the road for the first time in more than two weeks when the Tigers make the cross-state trek to Tuscaloosa for a rivalry rematch with Alabama. Game time is 4 p.m. CT Sunday at Coleman Coliseum.
It's the second meeting of the season between the two rivals; Alabama won the season's earlier meeting at Neville Arena on Jan. 8. Auburn looks to bounce back after a pair of home losses to Arkansas and No. 1 South Carolina last week.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 3:45 p.m. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› Sunday's game can be seen on SEC Network with Tiffany Greene and Nikki Fargas on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Freshman Sydney Shaw equaled her career high with 15 points to lead Auburn, but the Tigers fell to No. 1 South Carolina 83-48 Thursday at Neville Arena, the Gamecocks' 30th consecutive win.
›› The top-ranked Gamecocks capitalized on their size advantage, outrebounding Auburn 50-26 and outscoring the Tigers 52-22 in the paint.
›› Freshmen delivered highlight-reel plays in the third quarter thanks to Kaitlyn Duhon's steal and assist to Honesty Scott-Grayson, and Oyindamola Akinbolawa's smooth low post move. Mar'shaun Bostic scored 10 points in 11 minutes for the Tigers. Akinbolawa led Auburn with seven rebounds and Romi Levy added six.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Secure a .500 regular-season record with a 14th win.
›› Double the SEC win total from last season.
›› Snap an 8-game skid against Alabama.
›› Give Auburn a second SEC road win for the first time since the 2019 season.
AUBURN-ALABAMA SERIES
›› Sunday will mark the 101st meeting between Auburn and Alabama in women's basketball. Auburn is 53-47 all-time against the Crimson Tide in a series that dates back to 1973.
›› Auburn's and Alabama's records do not match because Alabama did not sponsor women's basketball as a varsity sport until the 1974-75 season. Two meetings in 1973 and 1974 were between Auburn's varsity team and Alabama's club team. Auburn lost to Alabama 33-29 in 1973, then defeated the Tide 69-31 on Jan. 11, 1974, in the first women's basketball game at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 8, 2023, at Auburn
Alabama 88, Auburn 57
›› Three Tigers scored in double figures but Alabama took control early and never trailed to beat Auburn 88-57 Sunday at Neville Arena.
›› Sania Wells matched a season-high with 13 points, Kharyssa Richardson scored a career-high 11 and Mar'shaun Bostic added 10 to lead the Tigers.
›› Auburn played without leading scorer and rebounder Aicha Coulibaly, who was injured Saturday in practice.
›› Alabama scored 48 points in the paint to Auburn's 20. The Crimson Tide shot 56.9 percent for the game while holding Auburn to 34.5 percent. Brittany Davis was 10-for-15 and scored a game-high 24 points.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE
›› Alabama is 18-6 overall, 7-4 in SEC play. The Tide have won two straight with victories over Missouri and Kentucky their last two games.
›› The Crimson Tide average 71.0 points/game and hold opponents to 58.7. Alabama is the top 3-point shooting team in the SEC and ninth-best in the country at 37.9%.
›› Brittany Davis leads Alabama with 18.2 points per game. Aliyah Nye is the SEC's top 3-point shooter at 45.5% (50-110), and Jada Rice leads the SEC in blocked shots (2.4/game).
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 13-10 overall, 3-8 in SEC play. The Tigers won three straight heading into last week but dropped consecutive contests to Arkansas and No. 1 South Carolina.
›› Auburn is the only team in the country to have played the top three teams in the national rankings: No. 1 South Carolina (twice), No. 2/3 Indiana and No. 3/2 LSU.
›› Junior Aicha Coulibaly leads Auburn in scoring (16.5 ppg), rebounding (6.2 rpg) and steals (2.4 spg); she is 7th in the SEC in scoring and 3rd in steals. She has three double-doubles this season, her last coming last Monday against Florida (14 points, 11 rebounds). In Auburn's three SEC wins, Coulibaly is averaging 21.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.0 steals. Coulibaly has missed three SEC games with injuries.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson averages 13.1 points to rank second on the team.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 41.1% from long range (30-73). 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, averaging 1.5 steals in SEC play. 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. She averages 7.0 points off the bench and is Auburn's third-leading scorer in SEC play.
›› Freshman point guard Sydney Shaw leads the Tigers with 2.5 assists/game despite moving to the 2-guard spot once league play began. 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. She matched that career-high with 15 points against South Carolina on Feb. 9. 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 career night with 15 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Florida. Junior Jakayla Johnson has earned 14 starts, scoring 8+ points in four of those and posting a career-high 6 assists at Kentucky.
SUPER BOWL NOTES
›› Auburn is 13-14 all-time on Super Bowl Sunday and is 4-4 in its last eight contests the day of the big game. The 2021-22 season was the first time since 1997 that the Tigers did not play on Super Bowl Sunday as their game that week with Florida was played on Monday night.
›› 2023 will mark the first road contest for Auburn on Super Sunday since 2018. Prior to that, Auburn had played seven straight years on the road. The Tigers are 7-2 at home and 6-12 on the road.
›› This is the third time Auburn will play Alabama on Super Sunday with all three meetings in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers split the previous two, winning 59-55 in 2016 and falling 55-53 in 2010.
›› The Tigers are 1-1 when Kansas City plays in the Super Bowl (2021: lost to Missouri; 2020: def. Vanderbilt). It's the same record for Auburn when Philadelphia is playing in the big game (2018, lost at Texas A&M; 2005, won at South Carolina).
›› When Auburn wins, the NFC teams in the Super Bowl have a 7-6 edge. AFC teams are 8-6 when the Tigers come up short.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn is back home Thursday, Feb. 16, to take on Texas A&M. It's the annual Play4Kay Pink Game at Neville Arena; game time is 7 p.m. CT.
Tigers set for road rematch with Alabama
