AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team will play the first of five straight home games Wednesday night when the Tigers welcome Alabama State to Neville Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. CT; doors open at 6 p.m.
The Tigers (7-2) enter Wednesday's game on a four-game win streak, including two straight road victories at UAB and Little Rock. It will be Auburn's first home game since Nov. 30. Alabama State (0-7) has played six of its first seven games away from home with three coming against Power Five opponents (Alabama, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma).
Wednesday's game is Greek/HBCU Night. Tickets are available at the arena ticket office on gameday or in advance by visiting AUBTix.com.
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.
›› Wednesday's game can be seen on SEC Network + with JJ Jackson and Hall-of-Fame coach Joe Ciampi on the call. SEC Network + is available via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn put together a strong defensive effort and held off a late Little Rock run to earn a 58-45 win on the road Sunday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.
›› The Tigers (7-2) used a big second quarter to build a 16-point halftime lead, then overcame a foul-heavy fourth quarter to hold on for their third road victory of the season and fourth straight win overall.
›› More than 100 supporters of Harris and freshman Savannah Scott – both Arkansas natives – filled the corner of the arena near the Tigers' bench as the two made their return to their home state.
›› JaMya Mingo-Young, making her first Auburn start, had a big day with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. She was 3-for-5 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 at the free-throw line. Honesty Scott-Grayson led the Tigers with 12 points along with two steals and a pair of assists.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Improve the Tigers' record to 8-2.
›› Give Auburn a five-game winning streak.
›› Keep the Tigers unbeaten all-time against Alabama State.
LAST MEETING: Nov. 20, 2022, at Auburn
Auburn 88, Alabama State 49
›› All 13 Auburn players scored as the Tigers ran away from Alabama State 88-49 at Neville Arena.
›› The Tigers shot a season-best 50.7 percent and got plenty of production from the bench, who scored nearly half of Auburn's points on the night.
›› Romi Levy, coming off the bench, finished with a career-high 16 points and 11 rebounds for the first double-double of her career and Auburn's second of the season. Aicha Coulibaly led all scorers with 21 points and matched a career-high with six steals; she also had seven rebounds. Sania Wells hit double-digits for the second time this season with 10 points to go with a pair of blocks. And freshman Sydney Shaw had a strong performance with eight points, a team-high six assists and two steals. Junior Carsen McFadden put a bow on the win with her first career 3-pointer in the final minute.
AUBURN-ALABAMA STATE SERIES
›› This is the 22nd meeting between Auburn and Alabama State, separated by less than 50 miles on I-85. Auburn has won each of the 21 prior contests.
›› Auburn is 2-1 all-time against the Trojans but lost the only previous meeting in Little Rock in 2021.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS
›› Alabama State is 0-7 but has played a very difficult schedule with its first six games on the road. Three of their seven games so far have been at Power 5 opponents (Alabama, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt).
›› The Hornets average 46.4 points per game and allow 86.7 per game.
›› Shmya Ward leads ASU with 11.3 points per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 7-2 after back-to-back road wins at UAB and Little Rock.
›› The Tigers have three road wins this season, the most since winning 10 times on the road in 2018-19.
›› Graduate student Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a season-high 22 points in the win at UAB. She also had 18 points, 5 assists and 5 steals against Clemson. She leads the team with 15.1 points/game and also averages 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
›› Sophomore Sydney Shaw scored a career-high 17 points at UCF and has hit double-figures in five of eight games. Shaw also led the Tigers with 15 points in the Alabama A&M win and scored 11 against Clemson. She is second on the team with 10.1 points/game and leads the outside attack with 15 3-pointers. Possibly the Tigers' best pure shooter, she moves from playing significant minutes at point guard last year to mostly at the 2-guard spot this season, although she has run the point at times this year.
›› JaMya Mingo-Young made her first Auburn start at Little Rock, scoring 11 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. In her Auburn debut vs. Cal, she had a team-leading 5 assists after missing the first three games with injury, then racked up 7 points and 4 assists at UCF. She then scored a season-high 16 points against Clemson, hitting 9-of-11 free throw attempts. Mingo-Young leads Auburn with 3.8 assists/game in the six games she has played, and she is third on the team with 8.0 points/game.
›› Senior Taylen Collins had a huge second half to spark the comeback win over UL-Lafayette on Nov. 9 with all nine of her points and 8 of 14 rebounds coming after halftime. She also reached double-figures for the first time with 11 points and 8 rebounds at UCF, then recorded her first Auburn double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Alabama A&M. She averages 7.6 points and a team-leading 7.3 rebounds. Collins, a transfer from Oklahoma State, was fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding last year with 9.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
›› Junior Mar'Shaun Bostic had a huge game in the opener with 12 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. She then had another huge game agains Clemson with 7 points, 4 assists and a career-high 5 steals, then matched a season-high with 12 points at UAB. 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. 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. She showed off her speed against Clemson, especially late in the first half, as she scored 10 points with 3 rebounds and 3 steals.
›› Celia Sumbane and McKenna Eddings, both JUCO All-Americans last season, have played significant minutes in the first several games. They both had their best games at Rutgers as Eddings had 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block in 24 minutes of action, and Sumbane was a beast at both ends of the floor with 5 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Eddings made her first Division I start vs. California, and Sumbane has started the last four games.
›› Freshman Savannah Scott made a splash under the basket through the early part of the season, averaging 7.6 points and 5.1 rebounds. She led the Tigers with 16 points in the win over ULL, then posted her first career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds in the win at Rutgers. 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 plays the second of five straight at home Saturday when Norfolk State visits Neville Arena. Game time is 2 p.m. CT.
Five-game homestand begins with Alabama State Wednesday
