AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women’s basketball team is back in action Sunday afternoon when they take on Missouri at Neville Arena. Game time is set for 2 p.m. CT.
Both teams are seeking their first SEC win. Auburn (9-9, 0-5 SEC) has faced four top-25 opponents in their first five conference games, and Missouri (11-9, 0-5) has faced three. Auburn won the last matchup between these teams last season, a 70-59 win in Columbia, Mo.
Tickets are available in advance at AUBTix.com and on gameday at the Neville Arena ticket office.
PROMOTIONS
›› Sunday’s game is Superhero Day. Fans can pick up a limited edition Auburn women’s basketball comic book at the scholarship entrance while supplies last.
›› It’s also Kids Club Day with a special event for premium Kids Club members prior to the game. Admission to women’s basketball games for Kids Club members is free.
›› Auburn women’s basketball player and staff families will be recognized on the court at halftime.
›› The Recycled Teenagers are back! The group of seniors will perform at halftime.
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 1:45 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 former Tiger Carsen McFadden calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Mar’Shaun Bostic and DeYona Gaston combined for 36 points and Auburn started and finished strong, but No. 7 Texas won 74-57 Thursday at Neville Arena in the programs’ first SEC meeting.
›› Bostic scored a season-high 18 points for the second straight game, adding six assists, five steals and four rebounds before fouling out. Gaston, who played the previous four seasons at Texas, scored 14 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter on 6-of-7 shooting against her former team.
›› Auburn outscored Texas 23-15 in the fourth quarter, shaving 11 points off a 25-point deficit on three occasions.
›› Oyindamola Akinbolawa, who led Auburn with eight rebounds, scored to pull the Tigers within six at the 7:03 mark of the second quarter but the Longhorns outscored Auburn 18-3 from there to take a 44-23 halftime lead.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Snap a six-game losing streak.
›› Be Auburn’s second straight win over Missouri.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSOURI
›› Auburn is 7-10 all-time against Missouri with 15 of the 17 meetings coming since Mizzou joined the SEC in 2012-13. The teams have split the last six meetings with Auburn winning last year in CoMo.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 11, 2024, in Columbia
Auburn 70, Missouri 59
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson topped the 20-point mark for the fourth straight SEC game, and Auburn never trailed in a 70-59 victory at Missouri for their first SEC road win of the year.
›› Auburn jumped out to a big lead and withstood a third-quarter run by Mizzou, pulling away early in the fourth to pick up their fourth win in league play.
›› Scott-Grayson’s 24 points led all scorers as she was 8-of-13 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. She also pulled down five rebounds along with three assists and a steal.
›› JaMya Mingo-Young also had a big afternoon, recording her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds, along with a team-leading five assists and two steals.
›› The Tigers shot 42.6 percent from the floor (26-61), improving to 13-0 when hitting the 40-percent mark. They overcame 10 3-pointers by Mizzou, which accounted for nearly half their offense.
SCOUTING THE OTHER TIGERS
›› Missouri is 11-9 overall, 0-5 in SEC play. Like Auburn, Missouri has faced an early gauntlet in league play, falling to No. 2 South Carolina, No. 18 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma, along with a buzzer-beater loss at Georgia.
›› Mizzou averages 70.5 points per game while giving up 63.4. Like most Mizzou teams over the years, the Tigers shoot the 3-pointer well, leading the SEC and ranking 9th nationally at 38.0% from beyond the arc.
›› Grace Slaughter leads three Tigers in double figures with 14.0 points per game. Slaughter, Ashton Judd and Abbey Schreacke are the top long-range shooters, combining for 112 of Mizzou’s 143 treys this year.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 9-9 overall, 0-5 in SEC play. The Tigers have faced four top-25 opponents in their first five SEC games, but will play unranked teams in their next three contests.
›› Auburn has held 15 of 17 Division I opponents below their season scoring average. Over those 17 games, opponents are being held 10.1 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 22.1 points and 8.0 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 13 games with an injury suffered at Cal on Nov. 22.
›› Graduate student Taylen Collins averages 8.5 points and 5.5 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 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 5.1 assists per game. She’s had five or more assists in 12 of 18 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, then she matched that with another 18-point, 6-assist, 5-steal performance vs. Texas on Jan. 16. 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 2.1 steals per game this year (8th SEC).
›› 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 18 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, arrived from China on Jan. 11, and played 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 back on the road Thursday night at Mississippi State. Game time is 6:30 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.