PORTLAND, Ore. – The Auburn women’s basketball team continues its two-game West Coast trip Friday when the Tigers travel from Oregon to Berkeley, California, to face the Cal Bears. Game time is 8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PT at Haas Pavilion.
Auburn (3-1) is coming off a close loss at No. 23 Oregon Wednesday night that saw the Tigers rally from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to get within one possession in the final minute. Cal (5-0) defeated Grambling at home Wednesday night.
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 ACC Network Extra with Dave Benz and Theo Robertson on the call. ACCNX, much like SEC Network +, is available via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app with the appropriate cable, satellite or streaming subscription.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Taliah Scott scored a game-high 28 points and Auburn clawed its way back from a double-digit deficit, but the Tigers were unable to finish off the comeback in a 70-68 loss at No. 23 Oregon Wednesday night.
›› The Tigers dealt with turnover and foul trouble all night and had a couple of cold stretches in the second and third quarters, but would not go away as Scott scored 14 fourth-quarter points and the Tigers’ defense stood tall to cut the final deficit to one possession.
›› Scott knocked down seven 3-pointers and added four rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block as she was lights-out late in the game for the Tigers. She now has 15 3-pointers in her first two games as a Tiger. DeYona Gaston added 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks, but missed significant time in the second half with foul trouble and played just 24 minutes.
›› Auburn shot 40.7 percent from the field and hit 8-of-17 3-pointers for 47.1 percent. Free throws kept the Tigers in it late as they hit 12-of-15, including 8-of-11 in the second half.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Even the all-time record with Cal to 1-1.
›› Be the 50th head coaching win for Johnnie Harris.
›› Improve Auburn to 48-30 all-time against current members of the ACC.
AUBURN-CAL SERIES
›› This is the second meeting between Auburn and Cal. The teams met last season in Auburn where Cal earned a 67-53 victory.
LAST MEETING: Nov. 17, 2023, at Auburn
Cal 67, Auburn 53
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 18 points and nine rebounds, but California claimed an early lead and never trailed again to win 67-53 at Neville Arena.
›› Auburn outscored Cal 29-2 in bench points but a trio of Bears starters produced at a high enough level to negate the Tigers’ depth advantage.
›› Kaitlyn Duhon scored nine points in 15 minutes on 4-of-5 shooting and JaMya Mingo-Young had five assists and zero turnovers in her Auburn debut to add to the Tigers’ bench production.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
›› Cal is 5-0 on the season. The Bears have home wins over Saint Mary’s, Idaho State, San Jose State and Grambling, along with a road win at Gonzaga so far this year.
›› Through five games, Cal averages 86.4 points per game while holding opponents to 55.0.
›› Four players average double-digit scoring for Cal, led by 17.6 points from Lulu Twidale and 16.4 from Ioanna Krimili.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 3-1 after three home wins to open the season and a road loss at No. 23 Oregon on Wednesday. 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. 20, Auburn is top 10 nationally in 3-point percentage (3rd - 47.4%), scoring defense (5th - 46.3), turnover margin (5th (13.8), steals per game (7th - 16.5) and turnovers forced per game (8th - 26.3).
›› 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. She followed that up with a 28-point night at Oregon where she knocked down seven 3-pointers.
›› 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, seven against Little Rock and five at Oregon. Bostic currently ranks fourth in the SEC with 5.5 assists per game. 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. Sumbane currently ranks 14th nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 66.7% from the field.
›› 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.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn’s next game will be approximately 3,760 miles to the southeast as the Tigers will travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Nov. 28-30. The Tigers will face Northern Iowa (Thursday, 2:30 CT), Pitt (Friday, 11 am CT) and Kansas (Saturday, 2:30 CT) in the three-day event on St. Thomas.