AUBURN, Ala. – After more than a week off for final exams, the Auburn women’s basketball team resumes non-conference play Wednesday morning when they travel to Lafayette, Louisiana, to take on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Game time is 11 a.m. CT at the Cajundome.
The Tigers (7-3) have won two straight, the last being a gritty 69-62 victory over UAB last Sunday when Auburn had just eight players available. The Ragin’ Cajuns (4-4) face their second straight SEC opponent; they fell at No. 4 LSU 85-57 Sunday afternoon.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 10:45 a.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game can be seen on ESPN+ with Dan McDonald and Eric Mouton calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Limited to a seven-player rotation by injuries to starters DeYona Gaston, Taliah Scott and Kaitlyn Duhon, the shorthanded Tigers defeated UAB 69-62 in Auburn’s first home game in 24 days.
›› Syriah Daniels made her first start, scoring 14 points and grabbing four rebounds in more than 30 minutes.
›› Taylen Collins led Auburn with 15 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, going 3-for-3 in the decisive fourth quarter while playing nearly 37 minutes including the entire second half. Celia Sumbane scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked three shots and made two steals.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn’s second true road win of the year.
›› Improve Auburn to 6-0 against ULL all-time.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ULL
›› This is the sixth meeting between Auburn and Louisiana-Lafayette, the second to take place at the Cajundome. Auburn leads the series 5-0 with four wins at home and one in Lafayette.
LAST MEETING: Nov. 9, 2023, at Auburn
Auburn 60, Louisiana-Lafayette 54
›› Auburn overcame a sluggish start to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 60-54 at Neville Arena thanks to a pair of late 3-pointers from Honesty Scott-Grayson and big games from post players Savannah Scott and Taylen Collins.
›› After the Cajuns cut Auburn’s lead from nine points to one with 4:13 to play, Scott-Grayson hit 3s on back-to-back possessions to put the Tigers on top 55-50. In her second college game, Scott scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting while adding six rebounds.
›› Collins grabbed 14 rebounds and came within one point of a double-double with nine points. Sydney Shaw added 10 points. Auburn outrebounded ULL 46-30 leading to a decisive 16-6 advantage in second-chance points.
SCOUTING THE CAJUNS
›› Louisiana-Lafayette is 4-4 on the season. The Cajuns’ four wins have come against Loyola, Nicholls, New Orleans and Rice.
›› The Cajuns average 57.6 points per game and give up 59.4 per contest.
›› All-Sun Belt selection Jaylyn James leads three Cajuns in double-figures with 12.0 points per game, but has not played in the last three contests. Tamiah Robinson (11.0 ppg) and Erica Lafayette (10.9) are ULL’s other players averaging double figures.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 7-3 and had the last nine days off for final exams following a 69-62 win over UAB on Sunday, Dec. 8.
›› Graduate student DeYona Gaston leads the Tigers with 19.9 points and 8.9 rebounde per game, ranking in the SEC’s top 10 in both categories. She 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. She has three double-doubles so far this season, including a 28-point, 10-rebound performance against PItt in the Paradise Jam. Gaston also hit a corner 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to beat Northern Iowa on Nov. 28; it was just the second 3-pointer of her five-year collegiate career. She added 23 points to lead the Tigers to a win at Virginia Dec. 5.
›› 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. She has missed the last five games with injury.
›› Graduate student Taylen Collins averages 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds so far this season. She recorded her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win over UAB Dec. 8. Collins hit double-digit scoring twice at the Paradise Jam and had 10 rebounds in the win over Pitt, then scored a then-season high 14 in the win at Virginia.
›› Senior Mar’Shaun Bostic has been the Tigers’ starting point guard most of the season, currently ranking fourth in the SEC with 5.4 assists per game. She’s had five or more assists in seven of 10 games so far. One of the fastest players and top defenders in the SEC, she led the Tigers with 1.6 steals per game in 2023-24 and is currently second on the team with 2.0 steals per game this year.
›› Junior Kaitlyn Duhon had a strong showing at the Paradise Jam, scoring 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers vs. Kansas, and turning four steals into eight points vs. UNI. Another elite defender, Duhon averaged 1.2 steals per game while scoring 5.4 points/game last season. 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 was then named to the Paradise Jam all-tournament team after averaging 10.2 points in the tournament, including 16 in the final game vs. Kansas. She leads the Tigers in field goal percentage at 56.3%.
›› 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. She hit double-digits a third time with 11 points in the win over Pitt, which included three 3-pointers, and she hit a crucial 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to help secure the win at Virginia.
›› 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, then scored a career-high 14 points in her first career start to help the Tigers come from behind to beat UAB Dec. 8.
›› Junior Oyindamola Akinbolawa has made four starts in the post, averaging 3.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She played her best career game vs. Northern Iowa at the Paradise Jam, finishing with 7 points and 10 rebounds, including her first career 3-pointer.
TRAVELING TIGERS
›› By the time Auburn returns from Wednesday’s game in Lafayette, the Tigers will have logged more than 11,000 miles of travel during the non-conference season.
›› Auburn spent three straight weeks on the road with games at Oregon and Cal (Nov. 20-22), the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands (Nov. 28-30) and the SEC/ACC Challenge game at Virginia (Dec. 5). The Tigers’ seven non-conference games away from home are their most since the 2018-19 season (also seven).
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hosts Alabama State on Saturday, Dec. 21, at Neville Arena. Tip is set for noon CT for the Tigers’ last game before the holiday break.