AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women’s basketball team will play their fourth ranked opponent in their last five games when the No. 7 Texas Longhorns visit Neville Arena Thursday night. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CT.
Thursday’s game is Greek Night as there are several promotions geared toward student attendance. Auburn students can pick up a War Eagle chain and can register to win one of several gift cards to local businesses in the student lobby.
Tickets are still available in advance at AUBTix.com and at the Neville Arena ticket office on gameday. For fans who pre-purchased the MAX Credit Union 4 for 44 package, concession voucher pickup will be at the will call window at the north main entrance.
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 hall-of-famer Joe Ciampi calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Mar’Shaun Bostic scored a season-high 18 points, but Auburn was unable to overcome a hot-shooting No. 15 Kentucky team in a 80-61 loss Sunday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum.
›› Bostic matched her career-high in an SEC game, equaling the 18-point output she had at Florida last season. She also added seven assists, three steals and four rebounds.
›› DeYona Gaston overcame early foul trouble to post a 23-point night along with seven rebounds. Celia Sumbane matched a season-high with eight rebounds.
›› Kentucky’s outside shooting and transition offense proved to be the difference as the Wildcats knocked down seven 3-pointers and scored 18 fast-break points. For the game, UK shot 53.6 percent (30-56) while the Tigers were at 34.8 percent (24-69), a season-low.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Snap a five-game losing streak.
›› Give Auburn its third top-10 win under Johnnie Harris.
›› Be the Tigers’ first ranked victory in five tries this season.
SERIES HISTORY VS. TEXAS
›› This is just the second meeting between Auburn and Texas and the first in the regular season. The teams previously met in the 1999 NCAA Tournament in Blacksburg, Va., with the Tigers earning a 69-61 win in the first round.
SCOUTING THE LONGHORNS
›› Texas is 16-2 overall and 3-1 in SEC play. The Longhorns defeated ranked league foes Oklahoma and Alabama, along with Arkansas, to open SEC play before losing at No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday.
›› The Longhorns average 88.2 points per game, the No. 5 scoring offense in the nation. Texas is the nation’s top team in turnover margin (+11.9) and free throws per game (18.4) and rank in the top 10 in numerous other categories, including bench points (2nd - 37.6), rebound margin (6th - +12.2), and scoring margin (2nd - 32.6).
›› Madison Booker leads four Longhorns in double-figures with 14.8 points per game. Rori Harmon is one of the nation’s top point guards, averaging 6.1 assists (13th NCAA) and a 3.52 assist/turnover ratio (leads SEC; 4th NCAA).
SOME FAMILIARITY HERE
›› Thursday will mark the first head-to-head meeting between Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris and Texas head coach Vic Schaefer. Harris served as an assistant coach for Schaefer from 2013-20 at Mississippi State and for the 2020-21 season at Texas.
›› Assistant coaches Ketara Chapel and Savannah Carter both played for Schaefer at Mississippi State, and Chapel served as director of player development on his Texas staff for the 2020-21 season. Associate head coach Damitria Buchanan played for Schaefer while he was an assistant at Texas A&M.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 9-8 overall, 0-4 in SEC play.
›› Auburn has held 14 of 16 Division I opponents below their season scoring average. Over those 16 games, opponents are being held 9.9 points below their season average.
›› Graduate student DeYona Gaston is the nation’s eighth-leading scorer and third in the SEC. She leads the Tigers with 22.3 points and 8.4 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 30 points in the Jan. 2 game vs. Ole Miss, going 14-for-17 at the free throw line. Her 14 made free throws and 17 attempts both tied Auburn program records.
›› 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 12 games with an injury suffered at Cal on Nov. 22.
›› Graduate student Taylen Collins averages 9.1 points and 5.9 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 missed two recent games (Alabama State-illness, Norfolk State-injury) but returned to the lineup vs. Ole Miss.
›› Senior Mar’Shaun Bostic has been the Tigers’ starting point guard most of the season, currently ranking fifth in the SEC with 5.0 assists per game. She’s had five or more assists in 10 of 17 games. Her best game so far this season came at Kentucky on Jan. 12 when she scored a season-high 18 points along with 7 assists. 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 leads the team with 1.9 steals per game this year.
›› 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 has started all 16 games so far.
›› 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. Young set a new career high in Sunday’s game at LSU with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
›› 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.
›› Freshmen Yuting Deng and Julia Geis have joined the program for the spring semester. Deng signed in November and arrived from China on Jan. 11 and will dress for the first time against Texas. Geis joined the program in late December as a walk-on and has dressed for the last three games.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn is at home once again Sunday afternoon to take on Missouri. Game time is 2 p.m. CT at Neville Arena.