GREENVILLE, S.C. – The postseason begins for Auburn Thursday when the Tigers face Georgia in the second round of the 2023 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament. Game time is 5 p.m. CT at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The Tigers (15-13) are the No. 10 seed in the tournament after earning five SEC victories on the year. Auburn is coming into the tournament after a thrilling 78-76 win over Vanderbilt to close out the regular season Sunday at home.
It will be the second meeting with Georgia in two weeks; the two teams met last Thursday in Athens with the Lady Bulldogs earning a 70-59 win.
Tickets are available at SECSports.com.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 4:45 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 Courtney Lyle, Carolyn Peck and Brooke Weisbrod on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson made a pair of tie-breaking free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining, then made a steal to secure Auburn's 78-76 victory over Vanderbilt on Senior Day Sunday at Neville Arena.
›› After Vanderbilt tied the score on Ciaja Harbison's jumper with 34 seconds left, Auburn held the ball until late in the shot clock, hoping to minimize the Commodores' chances for a last-second shot. Scott-Grayson misfired on a 3-point attempt as the shot clock expired, but Vanderbilt fouled her when the redshirt senior landed, sending Scott-Grayson to the line for three.
›› The victory secured the first regular-season winning record for Auburn (15-13, 5-11) since 2018-19. The Tigers were 13-5 at Neville Arena this season.
›› The Tigers beat the Commodores for the ninth time in their past 11 meetings despite not making a field goal in the game's final 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Auburn outscored Vandy 19-9 in fast-break points and 26-9 in bench points, including eight from Shaw, who enjoyed a perfect shooting day going 2-for-2 from the field including a 3-pointer and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.
AUBURN IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
›› This is the 44th appearance in the SEC Tournament for Auburn. The Tigers are 39-41 all-time and own four SEC Tournament titles in 1981, 1987, 1990 and 1997.
›› This is coach Johnnie Harris' second appearance in the SEC Tournament as a head coach. She had been part of 11 previous SEC Tournaments as an assistant coach at Arkansas and Mississippi State. She helped lead MSU to the 2019 tournament title in Greenville, S.C.
›› Auburn is the No. 10 seed for the fifth time. The Tigers are 2-5 as the 10-seed.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be their first in the SEC Tournament since the 2020 season.
›› Advance the Tigers to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2019.
›› Be the second win over Georgia in the last three meetings.
AUBURN-GEORGIA SERIES
›› This is the 55th meeting between Auburn and Georgia and the second in eight days. The Lady Bulldogs lead the series 34-20, but Auburn is 3-2 at neutral sites. Auburn's last win over Georgia came last season at home when the Tigers upset then-No. 20 Georgia 65-60.
›› Auburn and Georgia have met in the SEC Tournament five times with Auburn winning three. The last meeting came in Greenville in 2017 - six years to the day - when Georgia won 56-52 in an 8-9 matchup.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 23, 2023, at Athens
Georgia 70, Auburn 59
›› 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 had 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 a team-leading seven rebounds.
›› The stat sheet was nearly even – both teams made 23 field goals, 16 assists and 18 turnovers. Georgia was slightly better from the floor at 43 percent to Auburn's 40, and Auburn made four 3-pointers to Georgia's one. The Bulldogs pulled down 40 rebounds to Auburn's 27. But the biggest difference came at the free throw line, where Georgia was 23-for-28, and Auburn hit nine of 15 attempts. The Bulldogs were a perfect 17-for-17 at the line in the second half.
SCOUTING THE LADY BULLDOGS
›› Georgia is 20-10 overall and finished 9-7 in SEC play. The Lady Bulldogs dropped their regular season finale at No. 1 South Carolina Sunday.
›› The Lady Bulldogs average 67.3 points per game and hold opponents to 57.9. Georgia leads the league in steals with 10.5/game.
›› Diamond Battles leads UGA with 14.4 points per game, and Alisha Lewis is the SEC's leader in assist/turnover ratio at 2.6.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 15-13 overall, and finished 5-11 in SEC play. The Tigers secured a winning record with a 78-76 win over Vanderbilt Sunday in the final game of the regular season.
›› Junior Aicha Coulibaly, an All-SEC Second Team selection, leads Auburn in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (2.5 apg) 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 five SEC wins, Coulibaly is averaging 19.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals. Coulibaly has missed three SEC games with injuries.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson averages 13.2 points to rank second on the team and 19th 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 38.1% from long range (40-105). 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 at Tennessee with a 23-point performance, and she hit the game-winning free throws to secure a win over Vanderbilt on her Senior Day.
›› Sophomore Mar'Shaun Bostic has been a defensive spark off the bench, averaging 1.4 steals in SEC play. She scored a career-high 11 points in the win over Ole Miss.
›› Senior Sania Wells has had six 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 (79.6%). She averages 7.4 points - mostly 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 for the season with 7.2 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 college transfer Jakayla Johnson has earned 16 starts, scoring 8+ points in four of those and posting a career-high 6 assists at Kentucky.
UP NEXT
›› With a win, Auburn would face 2nd-seeded LSU in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals Friday, March 3. Game time is 5 p.m. CT in Greenville, S.C.
›› With a loss, Auburn would await a possible postseason bid.
Tournament time: Auburn faces Georgia in SEC second round
