EUGENE, Ore. – Auburn women’s basketball has begun its three-week, six-game stretch away from home as the Tigers are in Eugene to face No. 23 Oregon Wednesday night. Game time is 8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PT at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Tigers (3-0) play their first road game of the season against an Oregon team (5-0) playing its sixth straight at home.
This week’s road trip continues as following Wednesday’s game, Auburn will travel to the Bay Area Thursday for a Friday night tilt against California.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 7:45 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network +. Fans can see the game only with a subscription to B1G+.
LAST TIME OUT
›› In her Auburn debut, Taliah Scott made three consecutive 3-pointers before the first media timeout, tied the program and arena record with eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points to lead the Tigers past Little Rock 82-48 Thursday at Neville Arena, the 1,000th victory in program history.
›› Scott’s marksmanship equaled Tiffany Krantz’s 27-year-old program record while matching Bryce Brown’s Neville Arena record.
›› DeYona Gaston recorded her second straight double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
›› The Trojans tied the score at 17-17 before Jordan Hunter’s 3-pointer regained the lead for the Tigers, who led 31-25 at the half thanks to Gaston’s six points and five rebounds in the second quarter.
Auburn opened the second half with a 16-0 run that featured Scott’s fourth and fifth 3-pointers to build a 22-point lead. The sophomore sharpshooter sank her sixth 3-pointer midway through the third quarter to help Auburn lead 56-35 heading to the final period.
›› Scott added two more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, concluding her first Auburn game going 8-for-14 on 3-point attempts while adding nine rebounds and two assists in a game-high 33 minutes.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give Auburn a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
›› Improve the Tigers to 3-0 all-time against Oregon.
›› Be Auburn’s fifth win over a ranked opponent under Johnnie Harris, the second on the road.
›› Improve Auburn to 28-15 all-time against Big Ten opponents.
AUBURN-OREGON SERIES
›› This will be the third all-time meeting between Auburn and Oregon. The teams played a home-and-home series in 1989 and 1990 with the Tigers winning both contests.
›› Auburn is 37-15 against current members of the Big Ten Conference. This is the third straight season for Auburn to play a Big Ten opponent (2023 at Rutgers, 2022 vs. Indiana).
SCOUTING THE DUCKS
›› Oregon is 5-0 with all their wins coming at home so far this season. The Ducks jumped into the rankings last week after a 76-74 win over then-No. 12 Baylor Nov. 10.
›› Through five games, Oregon averages 76.2 points per game while allowing just 56.8.
›› Deja Kelly, a three-time All-ACC selection for North Carolina, leads the Ducks with 11.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 3-0 after three home wins to open the season, the last being an 82-48 win over Little Rock Nov. 14. The Tigers return two starters and nine letterwinners from the 2023-24 team that finished 20-12 overall, 8-8 in SEC play, and earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2019.
›› Through games of Nov. 18, Auburn leads the nation in scoring margin (+53.3) and is second nationally in scoring defense (38.3), turnover margin (+18.7) and turnovers forced (31.3).
›› Sophomore Taliah Scott, a transfer from Arkansas, made a splash in her Auburn debut, tying the program record for single-game 3-pointers with eight in the Tigers’ win over Little Rock Nov. 14. She scored 26 points in the game along with a career-high 9 rebounds. Scott averaged 22.1 points to lead the Razorbacks last season and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. She missed this season’s first two games with injury.
›› Graduate student DeYona Gaston set a Neville Arena record for an Auburn player with 36 points in the win over VUL. She also recorded her 1,000th career point and 500th career rebound in that victory. Gaston was the Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year at Texas last season; she averaged 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds off the bench for the Longhorns.
›› Graduate student Taylen Collins is the Tigers’ leading returning scorer (7.9 ppg) and rebounder (6.3 rpg). She held or shared the team lead in rebounds in 16 games last year and led the team with three double-doubles. Her best game of the season came in a win over Kentucky when she scored a season-high 19 points along with 11 rebounds. She had 8 points and 11 rebounds and 4 steals in the Tigers’ opener vs. Southern Illinois, then scored 11 points vs. VUL.
›› Senior Mar’Shaun Bostic ran the point for Auburn on opening night, finishing with four assists; she added six assists off the bench vs. VUL and seven against Little Rock. Bostic currently leads the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (4.3). One of the fastest players and top defenders in the SEC, she led the Tigers with 1.6 steals per game in 2023-24.
›› Junior Kaitlyn Duhon got her first start of the season against Little Rock. She played in 31 of 32 games last season. Another elite defender, Duhon averaged 1.2 steals per game while scoring 5.4 points/game. Duhon was strong in the opener with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals off the bench, then bested that effort vs. VUL with 13 points, 3 assists and 4 steals.
›› Senior Celia Sumbane scored a career-high 19 points with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals vs. VUL. She will see plenty of playing time at the 2/3 - she averaged 3.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 15.6 minutes/game last year.
›› Sophomore Audia Young opened the season with a bang, scoring a career-high 11 points on 3-4 3FG along with four steals vs. SIU. She then set another career high vs. VUL with 18 points, 4 assists and 5 steals.
›› True freshmen Jordan Hunter and Syriah Daniels - two of the top high school players in Alabama a year ago - saw their first collegiate action vs. SIU. Hunter had 6 assists and 4 rebounds off the bench in the opener, then went 7-for-7 from the field for 15 points along with 6 assists vs. VUL. Daniels had 12 points and 4 steals in the VUL win.
›› Junior Oyindamola Akinbolawa (6-5) and sophomore Yakiya Milton (6-4) are in the mix for playing time in the post. Akinbolawa was steadily improving last season and made a big impact in the historic win over LSU but missed the second half of SEC play with a thumb injury. Milton saw her minutes increase as the season went on, earning a pair of starts late in the year and finishing on a high note with a season-best 8 points and 3 blocks in the NCAA Tournament game vs. Arizona.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn stays on the West Coast for a Friday night contest at California. Game time is 6 p.m. PT/8 p.m. CT at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.