AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn women's basketball continues the opening week of the 2023-24 season Thursday night when the Tigers host Louisiana-Lafayette at Neville Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. CT.
Thursday's game is Military Appreciation Night. Fans in attendance can show a military ID at the marketing table to receive a concession voucher.
The Tigers (1-0) are coming off a season-opening 78-49 victory over Jacksonville State Monday night that saw four Auburn players in double-figures, led by 14 points from Honesty Scott-Grayson. Louisiana-Lafayette (1-0) defeated Spring Hill 75-45 in their opener at home Monday night.
Tickets are available at the Neville Arena ticket office or in advance by visiting AUBTix.com or calling 855-282-2010.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on AU100 (100.3 FM) beginning at 6:45 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› Thursday's game can be seen on SEC Network + with Brad Law and Hall-of-Fame coach Joe Ciampi calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Winning its home opener for the 44th time in the past 45 years, Auburn never trailed against Jacksonville State, beating the Gamecocks 78-49 Monday in Tipoff on The Plains at Neville Arena.
›› A trio of returners and a newcomer scored in double figures, with veterans Honesty Scott-Grayson (14), Kaityn Duhon (13) and Mar'shaun Bostic (12) combining for 39 points. In her Auburn debut, freshman Savannah Scott scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
›› Auburn outrebounded Jacksonville State 44-31 and outscored the Gamecocks 11-0 in second-chance points. Bostic led Auburn with four of the Tigers' 11 steals, part of 19 JSU turnovers that resulted in a 24-9 Auburn advantage in points off turnovers. Bostic and Sydney Shaw led Auburn with four assists apiece.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Improve Auburn to 2-0 for the second straight year and third time in the last four years.
›› Keep Auburn unbeaten vs. ULL at 5-0.
›› Improve the Tigers to 108-19 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt.
AUBURN-ULL SERIES
›› Auburn and Louisiana-Lafayette are meeting for the fifth time in women's basketball. Auburn has won the previous four meetings, three in Auburn and one in Lafayette.
LAST MEETING: Dec. 11, 2022
Auburn 81, UL-Lafayette 41
›› After receiving her psychology degree Saturday during Auburn University's Commencement at Neville Arena, Honesty Scott-Grayson returned to the arena Sunday to help the Tigers rout Louisiana 81-41, Auburn's fourth straight win.
›› Auburn made 12 3-pointers on 22 attempts, a sizzling 54.5-percent clip, just two 3s shy of the program record. Auburn used a 2-3 zone to outscore Louisiana 21-3 in the third quarter to turn a 14-point halftime lead into a 32-point rout, eventually winning by 40.
›› Freshman Sydney Shaw made 3 of 4 3-point attempts, scored a career-high 15 points and tied her career best with six assists. When Carsen McFadden made a layup for the game's final bucket, all 11 Tigers who played had scored, ending the game on an 11-0 Auburn run.
›› Sania Wells also reached double figures, scoring 10 points in 11 minutes and hitting 3 of 5 3-point attempts. Auburn outrebounded Louisiana 39-29, blocked nine shots and dished 19 assists while holding the visitors to four.
SCOUTING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
›› Louisiana-Lafayette is 1-0 after a 75-45 win over Division II Spring Hill Monday night to open their season.
›› The Cajuns were picked to finish 6th in the Sun Belt in a vote of the league's coaches. Last year, ULL went 16-15 overall, 10-8 in Sun Belt play, finishing 7th.
›› ULL returns four starters and 11 letterwinners from last season while wecloming five newcomers.
›› Junior Lanay Wheaton was a preseason All-Sun Belt selection, averaging 12.3 points per game last year.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 1-0 after a season-opening 78-49 win over Jacksonville State Monday night at home.
›› Auburn returns two starters and six total letterwinners from 2022-23, when the Tigers finished 16-15 overall, 5-11 in SEC play. Auburn made its first postseason appearance and secured its first winning record since 2019 last season, when they advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
›› Graduate student Honesty Scott-Grayson led the Tigers with 14 point in the opener vs. JSU. She is Auburn's leading returning scorer, averaging 12.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals last season as a redshirt senior. She started 27 games last season and was Auburn's top 3-point shooter, hitting 45-of-122 attempts (36.9%). She also finished third in the SEC in steals per game with 2.3.
›› Sophomore Sydney Shaw started 25 games last season, averaging 7.6 points, and 2.6 rebounds. Possibly the Tigers' best pure shooter, she moves from playing significant minutes at point guard last year to exclusively at the 2-guard spot this season. She was second on the team in 3-point shooting last year, hitting 40-of-118 (33.9%) from deep. Shaw scored 7 points in the opener vs. JSU.
›› Junior Mar'Shaun Bostic had a huge game in the opener with 12 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. She was a breakout star in the Tigers' final game of the season last year, scoring a career-high 23 points in the WNIT second round matchup at Clemson. She played in all 31 games last year, averaging 5.6 points and 1.9 rebounds. Bostic, one of the fastest players in the SEC, looks to play significant minutes at point guard and can be one of the SEC's top defenders.
›› Sophomore Kaitlyn Duhon started the season off with a bang, scoring 13 points along with 3 rebounds and 2 steals in the opener vs. JSU. In the two exhibition games, she had 6 steals in each and recorded a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double vs. Columbus State. Duhon played in 30 games last season, earning six starts. She averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds.
›› Among the Tigers' newcomers, senior Taylen Collins (Oklahoma State) averaged 9.5 points and 9.1 rebounds last year to finish fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding. JaMya Mingo-Young (Alabama/Mississippi State) averaged 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 14 games at Alabama before missing the second half of the season with injury; in 2021-22, she started all 34 games and averaged 11.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and finished second in the SEC with 80 steals.
›› Celia Sumbane and McKenna Eddings, both JUCO All-Americans last season, played significant minutes in the opener. Eddings finished with 6 points and 4 rebounds, and Sumbane recorded 5 rebounds and a block.
›› Freshman Savannah Scott was a force under the basket in the opener, recording 13 points and 8 rebounds in her collegiate debut. At 6-4, she adds much-needed size in the post, as do fellow freshmen Timya Thurman (6-5) and Yakiya Milton (6-4) along with sophomore Oyindamola Akinbolawa (6-5).
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hits the road for the first time this weekend, making the trek to Honesty Scott-Grayson's home state of New Jersey to take on Rutgers. Game time is 4 p.m. CT Sunday at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway, N.J., with a national broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Auburn women welcome Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday night
