ATHENS, Ga. – It’s the final road game of the regular season for the Auburn women’s basketball team Thursday night when the Tigers take on Georgia. Game time is set for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET at Stegeman Coliseum.
Both teams are looking to snap skids in conference play. Auburn (12-15, 3-11 SEC) came up short Sunday at No. 18 Alabama, while Georgia (10-18, 2-12) fell at home to No. 1 Texas Monday night in their last contest.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 4:45 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 Matt Stewart and Anne Marie Armstrong calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn’s DeYona Gaston recorded her seventh double-double of the season, but No. 18 Alabama pulled away in the second half for a 66-50 win Sunday afternoon at Coleman Coliseum.
›› Auburn led for nearly the whole first half, but turnovers proved costly as a 17-0 Alabama run to end the second quarter gave the Tide their first lead, and the Tigers would never regain the advantage in the second half.
›› Gaston finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Tigers in both categories; she was Auburn’s only player in double-figures. Alabama scored 34 points off 21 Auburn turnovers. The Tide shot 48.1 percent from the floor to Auburn’s 40.4 percent, and Alabama hit eight 3-pointers while the Tigers made just one.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give Auburn its first SEC road win of the year.
›› Be Auburn’s first win in Athens since 2015.
›› Snap a four-game losing streak.
SERIES HISTORY VS. GEORGIA
›› This is the 57th meeting between Auburn and Georgia in women’s basketball. The Lady Bulldogs lead the series 35-21, including a 21-5 advantage in Athens. The Tigers have won three of the last four meetings in Auburn, but have not won in Athens since 2015.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 29, 2024, in Auburn
Auburn 67, Georgia 49
›› Auburn used tenacious defense and 21 points from Honesty Scott-Grayson to defeat Georgia 67-49, the Tigers’ third consecutive SEC victory at Neville Arena.
›› Playing for the first time in eight days after knocking off LSU and Alabama at home, Auburn made 14 steals, outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-34 and held Georgia to 34.7-percent shooting to improve to 11-2 at Neville Arena this season.
›› Mar’shaun Bostic led Auburn with five steals and four assists, adding five rebounds. Auburn forced 23 turnovers and outscored Georgia 17-13 in points off turnovers.
SCOUTING THE LADY BULLDOGS
›› Georgia is 10-18 overall, 2-12 in SEC play. The Lady Bulldogs’ two SEC wins this season have come against Missouri and Arkansas.
›› The Lady Bulldogs average 63.5 points per game and give up 68.2.
›› Trinity Turner leads three players in double-figures with 12.6 points per game; De’Mauri Flournoy adds 11.2 and Mia Woolfolk scores 10.6 per game. Flournoy is fifth in the SEC in 3-point shooting, averaging 40.0 percent with 58 made treys this year.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 12-15 overall, 3-11 in SEC play. The Tigers have held 19 of 26 Division I opponents below their season scoring average. Eleven of those opponents have scored more than 10 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 22.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She has 14 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 14th nationally with 5.8 assists per game. She’s had five or more assists in 20 of 27 games, including three with 10 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 has two double-doubles, the latest coming with 14 points and 11 assists vs. Vanderbilt. One of the fastest players and top defenders in the SEC, she leads the team with 2.3 steals per game this year (7th SEC).
›› Freshman Yuting Deng has made waves in her debut season, scoring a career-high 27 points vs. Vanderbilt Feb. 13, the most by an Auburn freshman in an SEC game since 1983. She had 13 points in the win over Missouri Jan. 19, then knocked 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.
›› Graduate student Taylen Collins averages 8.0 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 not played since suffering an injury 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
›› Auburn closes out the regular season Sunday, March 2, when they host Mississippi State at Neville Arena for Senior Day. Game time is 2 p.m. CT.
›› Prior to Sunday’s game, Auburn’s four seniors - Mar’Shaun Bostic, Taylen Collins, DeYona Gaston and Celia Sumbane - will be recognized in a pregame ceremony.