AUBURN, Ala. – A new year and a new phase of the women’s basketball season begins Thursday night as Southeastern Conference play kicks off at Neville Arena with Auburn hosting No. 25 Ole Miss. Game time is 6 p.m. CT.
Fans arriving early can pick up a limited edition Auburn women’s basketball 2025 calendar while supplies last.
Tickets are available in advance at AUBTix.com or by calling 855-282-2010, and tickets can also be purchased at the Neville Arena ticket office on gameday.
PARKING INFO (NEW FOR 2024-25)
›› The Neville Arena parking lot is now a reserved permit-only lot for premium reserved season-ticket holders. This lot will only be accessible with a parking pass. Parking for all other fans is available in the Campus Safety Lot, Coliseum Lot and Stadium Deck.
›› Accessible parking is available in the Neville Arena parking lot with a valid state-issued ADA hang tag or license plate. This will be strictly enforced. These areas will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional accessible parking is available in the lots at the corner of Wire Road and Extension Loop, Campus Safety and Coliseum lot.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 5:45 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game can be seen on SEC Network + with Brad Law and Joe Ciampi calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› SEC Player of the Week DeYona Gaston delivered her fifth double-double, and shorthanded Auburn rallied valiantly in the fourth quarter before falling to Norfolk State 63-57 Sunday, the Tigers’ first loss at Neville Arena this season.
›› Trailing by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, Auburn pulled within three with 1:38 to play before the visiting Spartans held on to end the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.
›› Playing without injured starters Kaitlyn Duhon, Taylen Collins and Taliah Scott, Auburn had trouble finding offense beyond Gaston, who scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
›› Norfolk State outrebounded Auburn 42-33, with half of those boards coming on offense, leading to a decisive 21-14 advantage in second-chance points.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn’s first ranked victory of the season and fifth under Johnnie Harris.
›› Be Auburn’s first win in an SEC opener since the 2017-18 season.
›› Give Auburn a second straight home win over Ole Miss.
SERIES HISTORY VS. OLE MISS
›› This is the 68th meeting between Auburn and Ole Miss in women’s basketball. Auburn is 38-29 in the series that dates back to 1978. Ole Miss won last season’s only meeting in Oxford; Auburn upset then-No. 22 Ole Miss in overtime in the Rebels’ last visit to Auburn in 2023.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 11, 2024, at Oxford
Ole Miss 58, Auburn 55
›› Auburn fought back from an 18-point deficit to get within one point in the final minute but could not complete the comeback in a 58-55 loss at Ole Miss.
›› A bucket-and-one from Honesty Scott-Grayson with 1:01 to play got the Tigers within one point at 54-53, and twice in the final minute the Tigers had the ball in the frontcourt with a chance to tie or take the lead. Scott-Grayson was fouled both times, making one shot each time to keep the deficit at one.
›› A pair of Rebel free throws with 12 seconds to play pushed the lead back to three, and the Tigers had an open look at a 3-pointer in the final seconds but could not connect.
›› Scott-Grayson shook off early foul trouble to score a game-high 16 points; she was Auburn’s only player in double figures. JaMya Mingo-Young and Celia Sumbane had nine points each, and Oyindamola Akinbolawa led the Tigers with six rebounds.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
›› Ole Miss is 9-3 on the season. All three losses have come to current top-25 teams, including a two-point loss to USC in Paris and two other close defeats to UConn and NC State.
›› The Rebels average 79.9 points per game and hold opponents to 46.7, the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense. In their wins, they have held eight of nine opponents under 50 points.
›› Ole Miss also ranks top-10 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (9th - 1.5), blocks (9th - 6.2), offensive rebounds (7th - 17.7), scoring margin (5th - +33.3) and turnover margin (5th - +11.6).
›› Four players average double-figure scoring: Sira Thienou (12.3), Kennedy Todd-Williams (11.3), Madison Scott (10.9) and Starr Jacobs (10.4).
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 9-4 and looking to bounce back from a loss to Norfolk State in the non-conference finale.
›› The Tigers have the nation’s No. 14 scoring defense at 53.5 points per game allowed. Auburn is holding opponents an average of 11.5 points below their season scoring average.
›› Graduate student DeYona Gaston is the nation’s sixth-leading scorer. She leads the Tigers with 22.7 points and 9.1 rebounds 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, then nearly matched that with 35 points vs. Alabama State. She has five double-doubles so far this season, including a 29-point, 12-rebound performance vs. Norfolk State on Dec. 29. For her efforts against ULL (29 points)and Alabama State, she was named SEC Player of the Week. 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 eight games with injury.
›› Graduate student Taylen Collins averages 9.7 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. She has missed the last two games (Alabama State-illness, Norfolk State-injury).
›› Senior Mar’Shaun Bostic has been the Tigers’ starting point guard most of the season, currently ranking third in the SEC with 5.5 assists per game. She’s had five or more assists in nine of 13 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 currently shares the team lead with 1.8 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. She has missed the last five games with an injury sustained late in the Kansas game Nov. 30.
›› 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. .
›› 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 five starts in the post, averaging 3.8 points and 3.8 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. She then scored a career-high 10 points at UL-Lafayette Dec. 18 and just missed her first career double-double with nine rebounds.
›› Sophomore Yakiya Milton returned from injury Dec. 21 vs. Alabama State with six points and six rebounds in the Tigers’ win. She then moved into the starting lineup vs. Norfolk State.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn hits the road for the first time in SEC play, traveling to Baton Rouge to take on No. 6 LSU. Game time is 3 p.m. Sunday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.