AUBURN, Ala. – The home stretch of the SEC women's basketball season begins Sunday afternoon as Auburn welcomes Texas A&M to Neville Arena. Game time is 2 p.m. CT.
Sunday's contest is the first of three crucial games for the Tigers' postseason hopes, with two of those at home. Tickets are available in advance at AUBTix.com or on gameday at the Neville Arena ticket office. Doors open at 1 p.m. CT.
The Tigers look to get back on the winning track after a hard-fought loss at No. 13/10 LSU Thursday night that saw Auburn never back down in a hostile environment against the defending national champions. Auburn seeks to split the season series with Texas A&M following a 66-44 loss in College Station earlier in the season.
PARKING INFO
›› With multiple events taking place on campus, fans are encouraged to park in the Campus Safety lot (entrances off Magnolia Ave. and War Eagle Way); this avoids congestion and provides the fastest route to the main entrance of Neville Arena. Additional parking is available in the Arena lot, Coliseum lot and Stadium Deck.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on AU100 (100.3 FM) beginning at 1:45 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› Sunday's game can be seen on SEC Network with Wiley Ballard and former Tiger Xaria Wiggins calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson put on a show with 28 points against the defending champs, but a 40-minute battle by Auburn came up just short in a 71-66 loss to No. 13/10 LSU Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
›› A late run in the second quarter by LSU gave the host Tigers a 10-point halftime lead, and while Auburn was able to chip away in the second half, they were unable to catch up.
›› Scott-Grayson's 28 points led all scorers as she knocked down a career-best five 3-pointers to go along with four rebounds and three steals.
›› In her return to her home state, JaMya Mingo-Young matched a season-high with 16 points – all in the second half as she tried to lead Auburn's comeback bid. She also led Auburn with six rebounds.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Split the season series with Texas A&M.
›› Be Auburn's 13th home win of the season.
›› Be Auburn's second straight home win over Texas A&M.
›› Be the 994th win in program history.
›› Surpass last season's overall (16) and SEC (5) win totals.
AUBURN-TEXAS A&M SERIES
›› This is the 19th meeting between Auburn and Texas A&M. The Aggies won the first 16 meetings before Auburn broke through with a home victory last season. A&M won the first of two contests this season in College Station.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 7, 2024, at College Station
Texas A&M 66, Auburn 44
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson scored a game-high 15 points, but Texas A&M's size and depth proved to be too much for the Tigers in a 66-44 loss to the Aggies Sunday afternoon at Reed Arena.
›› The Tigers were unable to overcome several cold stretches as the Aggies controlled the paint and the glass to pull ahead early.
›› Scott-Grayson was Auburn's only player in double figures. JaMya Mingo-Young scored nine points and had eight rebounds, and she extended her consecutive free throw streak to 29 before finally missing one in the third quarter. Mingo-Young also led Auburn with three assists.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
›› Texas A&M is 18-8 overall, 6-7 in SEC play. The Aggies had dropped two straight before a win over Arkansas Thursday night.
›› The Aggies average 69.7 points per game while holding opponents to 56.7. They are one of the nation's top rebounding teams, averaging 44.4 per game, seventh-best nationally and second in the SEC.
›› Endiya Rogers leads the Aggies in scoring with 12.8 points per game. Lauren Ware and Janiah Barker each average more than eight rebounds.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 16-10 overall, 5-8 in SEC play.
›› The Tigers have four total road wins this season, the most since winning 10 times on the road in 2018-19.
›› Auburn has three top-30 wins this year, defeating NET No. 9 LSU, No. 25 Washington State and No. 29 Alabama, all at home.
›› The Tigers are 14-1 this season when shooting at least 40% from the field.
›› Graduate student Honesty Scott-Grayson has scored 15+ points in every SEC game this season and 20+ nine times overall, including a stretch of five straight games. She matched a career-high with 31 points vs. No. 1 South Carolina on Feb. 1. It was the third 30+ point game of her career and her fifth game with at least 20 points this season. She followed that up with a 27-point performance at Arkansas, then a 24-point night at Missouri. She was named SEC Player of the Week after a 21-point performance in the win over LSU, then matched that output with 21 in the win over Georgia. She leads the team with 18.2 points/game (3rd SEC) and also averages 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists. She averages 20.8 points/game in SEC play (2nd in SEC), and has scored in double figures in 24 out of 25 games she has played this year.
›› JaMya Mingo-Young leads Auburn with 3.9 assists/game, and she is second on the team with 9.3 points/game. She is fifth in the SEC and 38th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.3). She is also third in the league in free-throw percentage (83.1%) and made 29 consecutive free throws from the UAB game Dec. 3 until finally missing at Texas A&M Jan. 7. Mingo-Young equaled a season-high with 16 points at LSU, scoring all 16 in the second half in a return to her home state. She also had 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 19 points and had 11 rebounds in the win over Kentucky for her third double-double of the year. 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, and she had a then-season high 17 points vs. Alabama State. She recorded her first Auburn double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Alabama A&M, then got her first in SEC play with 12 points and 11 rebounds at Arkansas. She averages 8.3 points and a team-leading 6.5 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. Another big game for her came against Georgia when she had 4 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.
›› 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 6.1 points/game.
›› 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 has started eight games.
›› Freshman Savannah Scott has seen a resurgence since moving back into the starting lineup vs. Alabama. For the season, she averages 4.9 points and 3.4 rebounds, and she was SEC Freshman of the Week the opening week of the season after a double-double at Rutgers.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn plays its final home game of the regular season Thursday when the Tigers host Mississippi State. Game time is 7 p.m. CT.
›› It's Senior Night and five Tigers - Kionna Gaines, Taylen Collins, JaMya Mingo-Young, Carsen McFadden and Honesty Scott-Grayson - will be honored in a pregame ceremony that will begin at approximately 6:40.
Auburn begins final SEC stretch with Texas A&M Sunday
