CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands – Thanksgiving week brings the Auburn women’s basketball team to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands for the 25th annual Paradise Jam, which runs Thursday-Saturday at the University of the Virgin Islands.
Auburn will face Northern Iowa (Thursday, 2 p.m. CT), Pittsburgh (Friday, 11:30 a.m. CT) and Kansas (Saturday, 2 p.m. CT) in the three-day event. Links to live stats, radio and TV broadcasts are available on AuburnTigers.com.
Some 3,760 miles to the southeast of where Auburn played its last game – Friday in Berkeley, California – the Tigers will look to get back on track after dropping a pair of heartbreakers on the West Coast last week. The Tigers fought back from a double-digit deficit to fall just short at then-No. 23 Oregon last Wednesday, then could not hold a fourth-quarter lead in a loss at Cal Friday.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning 15 minutes before tip of each game. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Brad Wells and Kevin Lehman on the call. ESPN+ is available via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app with a subscription.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn’s defense forced Cal into a season-high 29 turnovers, but the Tigers could not hold a late lead as the Golden Bears rallied for a 63-59 win Friday night at Haas Pavilion.
›› The Tigers led 57-51 with less than five minutes to play but went cold down the stretch, not scoring again until the closing seconds as Cal finished the game on a 12-2 run.
›› DeYona Gaston led Auburn with 16 points to go along with six rebounds. Taylen Collins hit double-digits with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Celia Sumbane led Auburn on the boards with eight to go along with seven points.
SERIES HISTORY...OR LACK THEREOF
›› Auburn will be facing all three opponents in the Paradise Jam for the first time.
›› The Tigers are 12-2 against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference; UNI is the second MVC member to face Auburn this year (Southern Illinois).
›› Auburn is 47-31 against the ACC; Pitt is the second of three ACC teams Auburn will face this year (Cal, Virginia).
›› The Tigers are 13-12 against current Big 12 members; Auburn’s last game against a current Big 12 team came in the NCAA Tournament vs. Arizona last season.
SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA
›› UNI is 3-1 on the year after an upset win over No. 8 Iowa State last week, their first top-10 win in program history.
›› The Panthers average 81.8 points per game while holding opponents to 65.8. UNI is 16th nationally in 3-point percentage (40.2%).
›› Maya McDermott is the nation’s second-leading scorer at 26.0 points per game. She also leads UNI in assists (5.5/game).
SCOUTING PITT
›› Pitt is 5-1 on the season. The Panthers’ lone loss came to top-25 West Virginia.
›› The Panthers average 66.8 points per game while allowing 55.2. Pitt averages 5.5 blocked shots per game, 23rd nationally.
›› Khadija Faye leads Pitt in scoring (17.5 ppg) and is one of the nation’s top rebounders with 11.3/game (10th NCAA). She leads the nation in offensive rebounds (6.3/game).
SCOUTING KANSAS
›› Kansas dropped their first game of the season last Wednesday at Iowa to fall to 4-1.
›› The Jayhawks average 67.2 points/game while allowing 57.0. KU shoots 39.4% from 3-point range, 22nd-best nationally.
›› S’Mya Nichols leads KU with 19.6 points/game; she also leads in assists with 5.2/game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 3-2 after a pair of road losses last week at No. 23 Oregon and California.
›› Through games of Nov. 25, Auburn is top 20 nationally in 3-point percentage (4th - 45.2%), scoring defense (13th - 49.6), turnover margin (6th (13.2), steals per game (8th - 15.6) and turnovers forced per game (6th - 28.4).
›› 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 fifth in the SEC with 5.0 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. She leads the Tigers in field goal percentage at 62.2%.
›› 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.
IRON BOWL NOTES
›› Saturday’s game with Kansas will be the eighth time in the last 13 seasons that Auburn will play a women’s basketball game the same day as the Auburn-Alabama football game.
›› The last six Auburn women’s basketball games played the same day as the Iron Bowl have been decided by two points or less:
• 2022: def. Colorado State, 74-73
• 2020: def. Samford, 66-64
• 2019: def. Dayton, 76-74 (OT)
• 2017: lost to Northwestern, 49-48
• 2015: def. Minnesota, 81-79 (OT)
• 2014: lost at Winthrop, 54-52
UP NEXT
›› Auburn will close out its six-game road swing next week with a trip to Charlottesville, Va., to face Virginia in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The game is set for Thursday, Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. CT at John Paul Jones Arena; the game will be televised by ACC Network.