AUBURN, Ala. – The 2022-23 women's basketball regular season comes to a close Sunday afternoon at Neville Arena as Auburn wraps up SEC play against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Game time is 3 p.m. CT, and doors open at 2 p.m.
Girl Scout Cookies will be available for sale outside the Scholarship Entrance. In addition, Auburn students in attendance can enter for a chance to win a Yeti cooler and numerous other prizes.
Tickets are available at the Neville Arena ticket office on gameday or by visiting AUBTix.com.
PARKING & TRAFFIC INFORMATION
›› The Neville Arena parking lot will be reserved for fans with game tickets beginning at 11 a.m. Additional parking is available in the Coliseum lot, Stadium Deck and Campus Safety lots. Parking in the Coliseum lot and Stadium Deck might be limited due to baseball's noon CT game vs. USC.
›› Campus streets will be closed until 11 a.m. for the War Eagle Run Fest.
SENIOR DAY
›› Two Auburn senior players, Sania Wells and Honesty Scott-Grayson, will be honored prior to Sunday's game on the court at Neville Arena. The ceremony is set to begin at approximately 2:35 p.m.
›› In addition, senior manager Hannah Biglow and senior practice player Matthew Cornelius will be recognized in the pregame ceremony.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 2:45 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game can be seen on SEC Network with Brenda VanLengen and Holly Warlick on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Aicha Coulibaly scored 20 points and had a career-high seven assists, but Auburn was unable to overcome a big third quarter for Georgia in a 70-59 loss Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
›› A single-digit game most of the way, Auburn kept it within striking distance but could never get the final push to retake the lead in the second half. Georgia took advantage of numerous free-throw opportunities throughout the game – but especially in the second half – to seal the win.
›› Coulibaly led the Tigers with her seventh 20+ point performance of the season; she also led Auburn with six rebounds. Honesty Scott-Grayson added 16 points, knocking down three 3-pointers on the night, and Precious Johnson scored 10 off the bench and matched a season-high with seven rebounds.
ROAD TO GREENVILLE
›› Auburn is currently tied with Florida for 10th in the SEC standings at 4-11, and would avoid the first day of the tournament if the season ended today. The Tigers own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Florida.
›› An Auburn win over Vanderbilt would secure the No. 10 seed and a first-round bye. Potential second-round opponents could be Georgia, Mississippi State or Alabama depending on other results Sunday.
›› An Auburn loss would give Vanderbilt a tiebreaker over the Tigers, and a Florida win over Missouri would drop Auburn to the No. 12 seed, where they would play Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT against either Kentucky or Texas A&M. However, a Missouri win over Florida along with an Ole Miss win over Alabama would result in a 3-way tie at 4-12, and the resulting tiebreaker procedure would give Auburn the No. 10 seed.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Secure Auburn's first winning record in the regular-season since the 2018-19 season.
›› Be Auburn's fifth SEC win of the year.
›› Clinch the No. 10 seed and a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament.
›› Be Auburn's ninth win over Vanderbilt in the last 11 meetings.
AUBURN-VANDERBILT SERIES
›› This is the 55th meeting between Auburn and Vanderbilt. Vandy leads the series 30-24, the bulk of those wins coming during a 20-game win streak from 2001-14. However, Auburn has won 8 of the last 10 in the series dating back to 2014.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 30, 2022, at Nashville
Vanderbilt 81, Auburn 66
›› A hot-shooting Vanderbilt team pulled away early as Auburn fell to the Commodores 81-66 Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gym.
›› The Tigers ran into early foul and turnover trouble, and Vanderbilt could hardly miss, hitting 20-of-23 shots over a 17-minute stretch to build a 25-point halftime lead they would not relinquish.
›› Auburn was able to cut what had been as much as a 27-point deficit down to as few as 12 late in the fourth, but the Tigers could get no closer despite their highest-scoring second half of the year.
›› Aicha Coulibaly led Auburn with 21 points, scoring 15 of those in the second half, and Honesty Scott-Grayson added 14. Each player had a team-leading five rebounds. Mar'Shaun Bostic and Annie Hughes had four assists apiece, and Coulibaly led the Tigers with four steals. Jala Jordan added nine points and three blocks.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
›› Vanderbilt is 12-17 overall, 3-12 in SEC play. The Commodores' three SEC wins have all come at home.
›› The Commodores average 67.2 points per game and allow 70.6. Vandy is the SEC's top free-throw shooting team at 73.9%.
›› Ciaja Harbison is second in the SEC with 19.5 points per game, second in assists with 4.4/game, and first in steals with 2.5/game. Marnelle Garraud leads the SEC in 3-pointers made with 79 (2.7/game).
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 14-13 overall, 4-11 in SEC play. The Tigers dropped their final two road games at Tennessee and Georgia last week.
›› Junior Aicha Coulibaly leads Auburn in scoring (16.5 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and steals (2.2 spg); she is 6th in the SEC in scoring and 3rd in steals. She has four double-doubles this season, her last coming at Alabama (13 points, 10 rebounds). In Auburn's four SEC wins, Coulibaly is averaging 20.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 steals, along with shooting 51.6% from the floor. 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 39.4% from long range (37-94). 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. Her best game in SEC play came Sunday at Tennessee with a 23-point performance.
›› Sophomore Mar'Shaun Bostic has been a defensive spark off the bench, averaging 1.3 steals in SEC play. She scored a career-high 11 points in the win over Ole Miss.
›› Senior Sania Wells has had five big games in SEC play, scoring a season-high 16 points in the win at Kentucky along with 13 against South Carolina, Alabama and Texas A&M. She was the SEC's leading free-throw shooter last year at 90.5% (76-84) and is currently 3rd all-time at Auburn in career free-throw percentage (79.5%). She averages 7.1 points off the bench and is Auburn's third-leading scorer in SEC play.
›› Freshman guard Sydney Shaw 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 7.1 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 15 starts, scoring 8+ points in four of those and posting a career-high 6 assists at Kentucky.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn will play in the 2023 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina on either Wednesday or Thursday. Auburn's seed, opponent and game time have yet to be determined.
Senior Day: Tigers close out regular season with Vanderbilt
