AUBURN, Ala. – Southeastern Conference play gets underway for Auburn women's basketball Thursday night when the Tigers host the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Neville Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. CT.
Thursday's game is the Autism Awareness Game in partnership with Shooting 2 Change, a group promoting autism acceptance through athletics. Auburn's coaches and staff will be wearing special Shooting 2 Change t-shirts on the bench.
Auburn (11-2) enters conference play on an eight-game winning streak; the Tigers pulled away in the second half for a 79-58 win over North Alabama in their last contest Sunday. Tennessee (7-5) has won three straight heading into league play; the Lady Vols won on the road at Liberty 90-55 on Sunday.
Tickets are available in advance by visiting AUBTix.com and can also be purchased at the arena ticket office on gameday.
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 Wiley Ballard and Hall-of-Fame coach Joe Ciampi on the call. SEC Network + is available via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
LAST TIME OUT
›› JaMya Mingo-Young had her first Auburn double-double, McKenna Eddings led five Tigers in double figures, and the Tigers won their eighth in a row as they defeated North Alabama 79-58 Sunday afternoon at Neville Arena.
›› A slow start gave way to a big second half for the Tigers' offense as a three-point halftime lead swelled to 20 late in the third quarter, and Auburn (11-2) never looked back as they closed out an unbeaten December.
›› Mingo-Young once again flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. It was the eighth double-double of her career and first in an Auburn uniform. She also extended her consecutive free throws made streak to 25.
›› Eddings scored a career-high 14 points to go along with three steals, three rebounds and two assists. She was lights-out from distance, hitting 4-of-5 attempts from 3-point range to help the Tigers pull away in the second half. Three others hit for double-figures as Sydney Shaw, Honesty Scott-Grayson and Kaitlyn Duhon scored 11 points apiece. Celia Sumbane pulled down a season-best nine rebounds, and Shaw had a pair of blocked shots.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Improve the Tigers' record to 12-2, their best mark through 14 games since 2018-19 (also 12-2).
›› Give Auburn a nine-game winning streak, the longest since 2018-19 (also 9 straight).
›› Give the Tigers a win in their SEC opener for the first time since the 2017-18 season (5 straight losses).
›› Be the second straight home win over Tennessee.
AUBURN-TENNESSEE SERIES
›› This is the 61st meeting between Auburn and Tennessee. The Lady Vols lead 48-12, including a 15-6 advantage in Auburn. The Tigers won the last meeting at home against UT, a 71-61 stunner over then-No. 4 Tennessee on Jan. 27, 2022.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 19, 2023, at Knoxville
Tennessee 83, Auburn 76
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson led four Tigers in double-figures, but a game of runs went Tennessee's way as the Lady Vols held on for an 83-76 win at Thompson-Boling Arena.
›› Neither team ever led by double digits, and the lead changed hands six times, but a game of runs saw the Lady Vols answer every Auburn scoring spurt with one of their own. And a hot-shooting second half for Tennessee was too much for Auburn to overcome.
›› Scott-Grayson had her best outing in SEC play of the year, scoring 23 points and sharing the team lead with five rebounds. Sania Wells recorded a season-high six assists as she got the start at point guard.
›› Tennessee shot 56 percent for the game and 67 percent for the second half. The Lady Vols also took advantage of a significant free-throw edge, hitting 22-of-32 while Auburn made 14-of-19. The Tigers shot 44 percent from the field and knocked down six 3-pointers, their best output in SEC play.
SCOUTING THE LADY VOLS
›› Tennessee is 7-5 on the season with four of their five losses coming to nationally ranked opponents. UT was also without leading scorer and rebounder Rickea Jackson for four of those five losses.
›› The Lady Vols average 78.1 points per game while giving up 71.1.
›› Jackson averages 19.0 points and 9.3 rebounds in the four games she has played; she had 31 points and 17 rebounds at Florida State Nov. 9 but missed the next eight games with injury before returning to action Dec. 19 vs. Wofford. Four other players average double-figures, led by Karoline Striplin (12.4 ppg).
AUBURN-LADY VOL TIES
›› Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper was an Auburn assistant from 1999-2001, spending two years on coach Joe Ciampi's staff following her playing days at UT. Her husband and assistant coach, Jon Harper, is an Auburn graduate and spent three seasons as part of Ciampi's team as a manager and practice player.
›› Lady Vol assistant coach Samantha Williams was a four-year starter at Auburn from 1992-96, finishing her career with 1,108 points.
›› UT redshirt senior Rickea Jackson and Auburn graduate student JaMya Mingo-Young were teammates at Mississippi State from 2019-21, both playing for Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris at MSU their first season.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 11-2 after eight straight wins, the last coming Dec. 31 at home over North Alabama.
›› The Tigers have three road wins this season, the most since winning 10 times on the road in 2018-19.
›› Auburn has recorded three non-conference wins over Power 5 opponents (Rutgers, Clemson, Washington State), the most in a single-season since 2008-09.
›› 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 also had 18 points, 5 assists and 5 steals against Clemson. She leads the team with 15.4 points/game and also averages 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
›› JaMya Mingo-Young leads Auburn with 4.6 assists/game in the 10 games she has played, and she is second on the team with 9.1 points/game. She leads the SEC and is 7th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (3.8). She is also second in the league in free-throw percentage (87.8%) and has made 25 consecutive free throws dating back to the UAB game Dec. 10. 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 has flirted with a triple-double two straight games with 13 points/10 rebounds/7 assists vs. North Alabama (12/31) and 12/7/7 vs. Washington State (12/20).
›› 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 tied for third on the team with 8.5 points/game and leads the outside attack with 18 3-pointers.
›› 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 8.5 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds.
›› 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, plays 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. She swiped a career-high 5 steals in just 10 minutes of action vs. Alabama State. Duhon has knocked down a 3-pointer in two of the last three games, her first two of the season.
›› Celia Sumbane and McKenna Eddings, both JUCO All-Americans last season, have played significant minutes in the first several games. 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. Eddings made her first Division I start vs. California, and Sumbane has started the last eight games.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hits the road for the first time in league play, traveling to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M. Game time is 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7, at Reed Arena.
Auburn hosts Tennessee Thursday to open SEC play
