AUBURN, Ala. – It's tournament time for Auburn women's basketball as the Tigers are set to begin play in the Women's National Invitational Tournament Friday night, hosting Tulane at Neville Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m. CT.
Tickets are available for $6, and all tickets for Friday's game are general admission. Fans can purchase tickets at AUBTix.com or at the Neville Arena ticket office on gameday. Arena doors will open at 6 p.m. Regular-season parking policies remain in place.
The Tigers (15-14) are making their first postseason appearance since 2019 and first trip to the WNIT since 2014. Auburn is 13-4 all-time in the WNIT, winning the championship in 2003. In their last WNIT appearance, Auburn advanced to the third round.
Tulane (18-13) finished sixth in the American Athletic Conference. The Green Wave are making their third straight WNIT appearance and 10th overall.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 6:45 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 the Auburn Sports Network radio call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Aicha Coulibaly scored 13 points and Sydney Shaw added 12, but Georgia used a big second quarter to pull away as Auburn fell 63-47 in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
›› The Bulldogs outscored Auburn 26-15 in the second quarter, and despite the Tigers tightening down on defense in the second half, the offense was not able to make a significant dent in the Georgia lead down the stretch.
›› Shaw was strong for the Tigers off the bench, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. She also led Auburn with four assists and pulled down three rebounds, despite playing limited second-half minutes because of foul trouble.
›› Auburn could not get much going from the field, shooting 31 percent while Georgia – despite making just one field goal in the third quarter – finished at 43 percent. Georgia also hit five 3-pointers, their most in the last seven games.
UP NEXT
›› The winner of Auburn-Tulane will face the winner of Clemson-High Point in the WNIT second round. Date, time and location are TBD.
AUBURN IN THE WNIT
›› This is Auburn's sixth appearance in the WNIT. The Tigers are 13-4 all-time in the tournament, winning the championship in their first appearance in 2003.
›› Auburn advanced to the quarterfinals in 2013, the third round in 2007 and 2014, and the second round in 2011.
›› At home, the Tigers are 10-2 in WNIT games (5-1 at Neville Arena).
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Secure a winning record for the 2022-23 season.
›› Be Auburn's first postseason win since the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
›› Be Auburn's first WNIT win since 2014.
AUBURN-TULANE SERIES
›› This is the eighth meeting between Auburn and Tulane in women's basketball. Auburn is 5-2 all-time against the Green Wave (two words), including a 3-0 advantage in Auburn.
›› Auburn and Tulane have met once in the WNIT, with Auburn earning a 72-52 win at Neville Arena in the third round on March 27, 2013.
LAST MEETING: Dec. 22, 2016, at New Orleans
Tulane 61, Auburn 59
›› Auburn fought back from a 14-point third-quarter deficit but came up just short in a 61-59 loss to Tulane in the championship game of the Tulane Classic.
›› After a slow start, the Tigers shot 51.8 percent in the second half and made a late charge to within one point midway through the fourth quarter, but Tulane hit several clutch shots down the stretch to hold on for the win.
›› Auburn was led by Katie Frerking, who scored all 15 of her points in the second half. She also led the Tigers with six rebounds and six steals. Janiah McKay shook off a slow start to finish with 13 points, and Brandy Montgomery added 11. Erica Sanders matched a career-high with four steals; the Tigers had 15 as a team.
›› After forcing just four Tulane turnovers in the first half, Auburn came away with 16 in the second half, turning the Green Wave's 20 turnovers into 27 points. But Tulane was able to control the offensive glass, pulling down 13 offensive rebounds and converting those into 11 points. Both teams made 22 field goals, and both teams made nine 3-pointers, matching a season-high for Auburn.
SCOUTING THE GREEN WAVE
›› Tulane is 18-13 overall and went 7-9 in the American Athletic Conference. The Green Wave advanced to the quarterfinals of the AAC Tournament before falling 69-58 to eventual champion East Carolina.
›› Auburn and Tulane have five common opponents this season with the same outcomes against each one. Both teams earned wins over South Alabama, Sam Houston and UCF, and both teams fell to Alabama and LSU.
›› Tulane averages 66.7 points per game while holding opponents to 60.1. The Green Wave rank 22nd nationally in field goal defense at 36.2% and 20th in 3-point defense at 26.9%.
›› Dynah Jones leads Tulane with 12.6 points per game. Rachel Hakes leads the AAC and ranks 44th nationally with 4.8 assists per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 15-14 overall, and finished 5-11 in SEC play to finish 10th in the final standings. The Tigers' five SEC wins were a 150% improvement from the previous year, when they won two conference games.
›› Junior Aicha Coulibaly, an All-SEC Second Team selection, leads Auburn in scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rpg), assists (2.6 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 averaged 19.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals. Coulibaly missed three SEC games with injuries.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson averages 13.0 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 36.2% from long range (42-116). 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.
›› Senior Sania Wells 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%).
›› 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 7.3 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 17 starts, scoring 8+ points in four of those and posting a career-high 6 assists at Kentucky.
Tigers open WNIT Friday at home vs. Tulane
