LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Auburn hits the road for the final time in non-conference women's basketball action when they take on the Little Rock Trojans Sunday afternoon.
The published start time for Sunday's game at the Jack Stephens Center is 2 p.m. CT. However, the contest is the second game of a doubleheader with Little Rock's men, whose game vs. Winthrop is set to begin at noon. There will be a minimum of 30 minutes between games, so it is likely that the Auburn game will begin no earlier than 2:30 p.m. Follow @AuburnWBB on social media for updates on the start time on gameday.
The Tigers (6-2), coming off a week's hiatus for final exams, are looking to add to a three-game winning streak that includes home wins over Alabama A&M and Clemson and a road victory at UAB last Sunday. Little Rock (0-6) is seeking its first win of the season but is playing its fourth SEC team of the non-conference slate.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on AU100 (100.3 FM) beginning at approximately 2:15 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› Sunday's game can be seen on ESPN+, available to subscribers via the ESPN app and WatchESPN.com.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a season-high 22 points, and the Auburn women's basketball team held off a late UAB run for a 72-62 win last Sunday at Bartow Arena.
›› Trailing by one after 10 minutes, the Tigers (6-2) went on a 14-2 run in the second quarter to open a double-digit lead, and UAB (6-2) would never get any closer than seven points the rest of the way.
›› Scott-Grayson hit for double figures for the sixth time this season, scoring her game-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting. She was 3-of-4 at the free-throw line and made the only 3-pointer she attempted. Scott-Grayson also led the Tigers with four assists.
›› Mar'Shaun Bostic was Auburn's only other player in double figures with 12 points; she also had four steals, four rebounds and a pair of assists. Taylen Collins had one of her better games of the year, scoring eight points with a team-best eight rebounds, along with three assists and two blocked shots.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Improve the Tigers' record to 7-2.
›› Give Auburn a four-game winning streak.
›› Be Auburn's first back-to-back road wins since the 2018-19 season (at Ole Miss, at Arkansas).
›› Give Auburn its third road win of the season, the most since 2018-19 (10).
LAST MEETING: Nov. 30, 2022, at Auburn
Auburn 70, Little Rock 48
›› Pinch-hitting for Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris, who was ill, associate head coach Damitria Buchanan led the Tigers to victory for the second time this season with a 70-48 win vs. Little Rock Wednesday afternoon at Neville Arena.
›› Veterans Honesty Scott-Grayson and Romi Levy led the way, combining for 38 points. Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting while Levy scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, notching her second career double-double.
›› Making her first career start, Jakayla Johnson scored the first four points of the third quarter. Levy's jumper and free throw gave the Tigers a 20-point lead on their way to leading by as many as 26. Kaitlyn Duhon populated the box score in multiple categories, scoring eight points on 3-of-4 shooting while contributing three rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.
AUBURN-LITTLE ROCK SERIES
›› This is the fourth meeting between Auburn and Little Rock in women's basketball, but the third season in a row the two programs have played.
›› Auburn is 2-1 all-time against the Trojans but lost the only previous meeting in Little Rock in 2021.
HOMECOMING FOR COACH J, SCOTTIE
›› Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris (Pine Bluff) and freshman Savannah Scott (Conway) return to their home state for the first of two times this season.
›› Harris makes her return to the place that launched her collegiate coaching career. She was assistant coach at Little Rock from 1999-2001 as the program restarted after an 11-year hiatus.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
›› Little Rock is 0-6 on the year but has played a brutal schedule - 45th most difficult nationally, according to RealTimeRPI.com. The Trojans have faced SEC opponents Arkansas, Ole Miss and Alabama, along with Big 12 foe Kansas State in their first six games.
›› The Trojans average 44.0 points per game and allow 65.0 per game.
›› Faith Lee leads the Trojans with 12.7 points/game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 6-2 after a road win at UAB last Sunday. It was the Tigers' third straight victory to go along with wins over Alabama A&M and Clemson at home.
›› 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 15.6 points/game and also averages 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 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 10.4 points/game and leads the outside attack with 13 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.
›› 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 7.8 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 started for the first time against Alabama A&M.
›› JaMya Mingo-Young made her Auburn debut with a team-leading 5 assists vs. Cal 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 3.6 assists/game in the five games she has played, and she is fifth on the team with 7.4 points/game.
›› Freshman Savannah Scott made a splash under the basket through the early part of the season, averaging 7.8 points and 5.0 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 returns home for its next five games, beginning with a visit from I-85 rival Alabama State Wednesday, Dec. 13. Game time is 7 p.m. at Neville Arena.
Final non-conference road trip for Auburn women at Little Rock
