AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women’s basketball team is back home Sunday afternoon to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the team’s second-to-last home game of the season. Game time is set for 3 p.m. CT at Neville Arena.
Both teams are looking to get back in the win column. The Tigers (12-13, 3-9 SEC) dropped two games last week on the road to top-25 opponents, and the Commodores (18-7, 5-6) have lost three straight, including an 85-77 double overtime loss to Mississippi State Thursday night.
Sunday’s game features the second-, third-, and fourth-leading scorers in the SEC. Auburn’s DeYona Gaston averages 22.0 points per game to rank second in the SEC and seventh nationally, and Vandy’s Mikayla Blakes (21.8) and Khamil Pierre (21.3) are third and fourth in the league in scoring.
Fans are reminded that the Neville Arena parking lot is a reserved, pass-only lot for the 2024-25 women’s basketball season. With Auburn baseball playing at 1 p.m. Sunday and parking in the Coliseum lot and Stadium deck likely being limited, basketball fans without passes are encouraged to park in the Campus Safety lot.
PROMOTIONS
›› Sunday’s game is the annual College Vault Throwback Game with an ‘80s theme throughout the venue. The first 150 students can pick up a limited edition throwback bucket hat, and fans that spend $25 in the College Vault Pop-Up Shop can pick up their own bucket hat.
›› Back by popular demand, the Recycled Teenagers will perform at halftime.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 2:45 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 Brenda VanLengen and Anne O’Neill calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn’s DeYona Gaston picked up her sixth double-double of the season, but No. 15 Tennessee’s depth was too much as the Tigers fell 99-61 Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
›› Gaston finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead all scorers in the game. It was the 13th time this year for Gaston to top the 20-point mark. Yuting Deng started hot and finished with 13 points. Taylen Collins had nine with three steals, and Mar’Shaun Bostic recorded eight assists.
›› Tennessee hit an SEC-season high 14 3-pointers and shot 56 percent from the field (39-70) while Auburn was 43 percent from the field (24-56). The Lady Vols turned 21 Auburn turnovers into 22 points.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn’s fourth straight home win.
›› Secure a .500 home SEC record for the third straight year.
›› Be Auburn’s fifth straight win over Vanderbilt at home.
SERIES HISTORY VS. VANDERBILT
›› This is the 57th meeting between Auburn and Vanderbilt in women’s basketball. Vandy leads the series 31-25, but the Tigers own a 12-10 edge at home.
›› Vanderbilt won 20 straight in the series from 2001-2014, but Auburn has won 9 of 12 since.
›› Auburn has won five straight over the Commodores at Neville Arena.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 18, 2024, in Nashville
Vanderbilt 53, Auburn 50
›› A game that featured eight ties and 17 lead changes saw Auburn unable to hold onto a late lead in a 53-50 loss at Vanderbilt.
›› The score was tied with a minute to play, but Vanderbilt scored with 33 seconds left to take the lead. Auburn had two possessions in the final seconds but was unable to convert those into points, and the Commodores held on.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson continued her stellar week with a team-leading 15 points along with a season-high six assists. She also had six rebounds on the day. Taylen Collins just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
›› On a cold day in Nashville, the shooting wasn’t much warmer inside Memorial Gym as neither team topped 40 percent from the field. Auburn was 21-of-59 for 35.6 percent, and Vandy wasn’t much better at 18-of-47 (38.3 percent). Auburn made just one 3-pointer on 13 attempts.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
›› Vanderbilt is 18-7 overall, 5-6 in SEC play. The Commodores had won four straight and moved into the top 25 before dropping their last three to Ole Miss, Texas and Mississippi State.
›› The Commodores average 84.2 points per game - the nation’s No. 7 scoring offense - while holding opponents to 66.2. Vandy also ranks top-20 nationally in steals per game (10th - 12.5), offensive rebounds (13th - 15.7), turnover margin (14th - +7.5) and free throw percentage (19th - 77.7%).
›› Mikayla Blakes (21.8) and Khamil Pierre (21.3) are the third- and fourth-leading scorers in the SEC. Pierre also averages 10.1 rebounds and has 13 double-doubles on the year, and she is 13th nationally with 3.0 steals per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 12-13 overall, 3-9 in SEC play. This game vs. Vanderbilt is Auburn’s only home game in a three-week stretch.
›› Auburn has held 18 of 24 Division I opponents below their season scoring average. Twelve of those opponents have scored more than 10 points below their season average.
›› Graduate student DeYona Gaston is the nation’s seventh-leading scorer and second in the SEC. She leads the Tigers with 22.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. She has 13 games this season with 20 or more points and four with 30-plus. 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 six double-doubles so far this season, including a 24-point, 12 rebound performance at Tennessee on Feb. 13. 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.
›› Senior Mar’Shaun Bostic is turning heads as the Tigers’ starting point guard recently, ranking third in the SEC and 16th nationally with 5.6 assists per game. She’s had five or more assists in 18 of 25 games, including three straight with nine or more. She scored 18 points in back-to-back games vs. Kentucky and Texas for season-highs. She then recorded a career-high 11 assists along with nine points in the win over Florida Jan. 26, then barely missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 assists at South Carolina. She finally picked up that elusive double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists in the win over Texas A&M Feb. 6. One of the fastest players and top defenders in the SEC, she leads the team with 2.2 steals per game this year (7th SEC).
›› Freshman Yuting Deng has made waves in her first six extended appearances, scoring 13 points in the win over Missouri Jan. 19, then knocking down four 3-pointers en route to a 16-point night against Florida Jan. 26. Deng entered the starting lineup Feb. 2 at South Carolina, scoring 10 points while hitting a pair of 3s, then scored 13 points at Tennessee Feb. 13. She arrived from China Jan. 11, made her debut vs. Texas five days later, then missed the game at Mississippi State with an injury suffered in practice the day before.
›› Graduate student Taylen Collins averages 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. 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. Collins pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds in the win over Florida Jan. 26.
›› 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 started the first 18 games, then recorded her first career double-double off the bench with 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. Missouri on Jan. 19.
›› 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 19 games with an injury suffered at Cal on Nov. 22.
›› 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 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.
›› Oyindamola Akinbolawa and Yakiya Milton have spent time in the post with Akinbolawa starting 13 games and Milton one. Akinbolawa’s best game came vs. UNI at the Paradise Jam, where she finished with 7 points and 10 rebounds. She then scored a career-high 10 points at ULL, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Milton had her best outing of the year at Oklahoma with a career-high 7 rebounds.
UP NEXT
›› After an open date, Auburn is back on the road for its next two games, starting with a trip across the state to take on No. 21 Alabama on Sunday, Feb. 23. Game time is 4 p.m. at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.