AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn women's basketball looks to build on the momentum from their historic win over LSU as they head back out on the road for a Thursday night contest at Vanderbilt. Game time is 6:30 p.m. CT at Memorial Gym in Nashville.
The Tigers (12-5, 1-3 SEC) were the toast of the women's college basketball world over the weekend after their 67-62 victory over No. 7/4 LSU Sunday in front of a record crowd of 7,720 at Neville Arena. Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-1) saw a nine-game win streak come to an end Sunday with a heartbreaking 65-63 loss at home to Missouri.
IN THE RANKINGS
›› Auburn is receiving votes in this week's Associated Press poll. It's the first time for Auburn to receive AP votes since the 2019-20 preseason rankings.
›› Vanderbilt is receiving votes in both polls. The Commodores were ranked No. 24 last week in the coaches' poll.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on AU100 (100.3 FM) beginning at 6:15 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 +, which is available via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app for mobile devices and smart TVs. Andrew Allegretta and Drew Maddux have the call.
LAST TIME OUT
›› In front of the largest crowd to witness a women's basketball game at Neville Arena, Auburn stunned defending national champion No. 7 LSU 67-62 Sunday behind 21 points from Honesty Scott-Grayson.
›› With Auburn leading 64-62 in the final seconds, Taylen Collins skillfully defended LSU All-American Angel Reese, and JaMya Mingo-Young double-teamed, stole the ball, drew a foul and made both free throws to put the Tigers ahead by four with 10 seconds left.
›› Mingo-Young scored 13 points, made five assists, grabbed three rebounds and made two steals. Collins led Auburn with seven rebounds and Celia Sumbane made four of the Tigers' 10 steals.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn's 10th in the last 12 meetings with Vanderbilt.
›› Snap a two-game skid against Vandy in Nashville.
›› Be the Tigers' second straight over a team either ranked or receiving votes.
AUBURN-VANDY SERIES
›› This is the 56th meeting between Auburn and Vanderbilt. Vandy leads the series 30-25, the bulk of those wins coming during a 20-game win streak from 2001-14. However, Auburn has won 9 of the last 11, dating back to 2014.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 26, 2023, at Auburn
Auburn 78, Vanderbilt 76
›› 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 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.
›› After missing the first, she made the next two, then with Auburn pressing and Vanderbilt out of timeouts, Scott-Grayson tracked down a loose ball near Vanderbilt's bench as the game ended, racing to midcourt to hug her teammates to celebrate the dramatic victory.
›› Scott-Grayson and fellow senior Sania Wells combined for 28 points. 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.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
›› Vanderbilt is 16-2 overall, 3-1 in SEC play. The Commodores had won nine straight before dropping a 65-63 heartbreaker to Missouri on Sunday.
›› The Commodores average 72.9 points per game while holding opponents to 58.4. Vandy ranks 16th nationally in steals per game (11.7).
›› Jordyn Cambridge leads Vandy in scoring (14.6), assists (4.7) and steals (4.1). She leads the SEC and is third nationally in steals per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 12-5 overall, 1-3 in SEC play following their historic win over No. 7/4 LSU.
›› The Tigers have three road wins this season, the most since winning 10 times on the road in 2018-19.
›› Auburn has two "Quad 1" wins this year, defeating NET No. 19 LSU and No. 21 Washington State, both at home.
›› Graduate student Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a season-high 24 points against Alabama State and had 22 in the win at UAB Dec. 3. She was named SEC Player of the Week after a 21-point performance in the win over LSU. She leads the team with 15.8 points/game and also averages 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists. She averages 17.0 points/game in SEC play.
›› JaMya Mingo-Young leads Auburn with 4.1 assists/game, and she is second on the team with 9.5 points/game. She is fourth in the SEC and 25th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.6). She is also third in the league in free-throw percentage (87.9%) and made 29 consecutive free throws from the UAB game Dec. 3 until finally missing at Texas A&M Jan. 7. Mingo-Young scored a season-high 16 points against Clemson, hitting 9-of-11 free throw attempts, then matched her scoring output with 16 against Norfolk State and tied an Auburn record going 12-for-12 at the free-throw line. She made the highlight-reel play of the season to clinch the win over LSU, stealing the ball from Angel Reese and drawing a foul with 10 seconds to play and Auburn leading by 2, then sinking both free throws to secure the win.
›› Senior Taylen Collins scored a season-best 17 points in the win over Alabama State. 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 recorded her first Auburn double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Alabama A&M. She averages 8.2 points and a team-leading 6.4 rebounds.
›› Junior Mar'Shaun Bostic scored a season-high 17 points on 7-11 shooting vs. Tennessee. She had a huge game in the opener vs. Jacksonville State 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. 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.
›› Sophomore Sydney Shaw scored a career-high 17 points at UCF and has hit double-figures in six games. Shaw also led the Tigers with 15 points in the Alabama A&M win and scored 11 against Clemson. She is fourth on the team with 7.0 points/game and leads the outside attack with 20 3-pointers.
›› 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. She swiped a career-high 5 steals in just 10 minutes of action vs. Alabama State, and she earned her first start of the season at Ole Miss.
›› Celia Sumbane and McKenna Eddings, both JUCO All-Americans last season, have played significant minutes.Both were huge in the win over Alabama State - Sumbane finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists, all career-highs. Eddings scored 10 points along with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Eddings scored a career-high 14 points and was 4-of-5 from 3-point range vs. North Alabama, and she hit a key 3-pointer in the win over LSU. Eddings made her first Division I start vs. California, and Sumbane has started 10 games.
PACKING THE HOUSE
›› The two largest crowds in Auburn women's basketball history have seen the Tigers defeat the defending national champions. The Jan. 14 game vs. LSU, the largest women's basketball crowd in Neville Arena history, was the second-largest to see a women's basketball game in Auburn.
›› On Jan. 25, 2009, a crowd of 12,067 packed Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum as the Tigers defeated No. 10 Tennessee 82-68 with the Lady Vols fresh off the 2008 national title.
TAKING DOWN THE CHAMPS
›› Auburn earned one of the most significant wins in college basketball so far this season when the Tigers upset No. 7/4 LSU 67-62 on Jan. 14 at Neville Arena. A record crowd of 7,720 fans were on hand to watch Auburn end LSU's 16-game winning streak and take down the defending national champions.
›› The win over LSU was Auburn's seventh all-time over a defending national champion.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn is back home for another huge Sunday showdown as rival Alabama visits Neville Arena for a 2 p.m. CT start.
›› Prior to Sunday's game, Auburn legend DeWanna Bonner will be honored by having her jersey retired in a pregame ceremony that will begin at approximately 1:50 p.m. The 2009 SEC Champions, of which Bonner was a part, will be recognized at halftime.
Auburn women head to Vanderbilt Thursday
