AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women’s basketball team will make its first-ever trip to the Sooner State when the Tigers take on No. 15 Oklahoma Monday night in Norman. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Tigers (12-11, 3-7 SEC) look to build on three straight home SEC wins, the last being a 65-52 triumph over Texas A&M Thursday night. The Sooners (17-6, 5-5) are also coming off a win, defeating Ole Miss 66-56 on Thursday.
Monday’s game will be the first of four straight against top-25 opponents. After the trip to Norman, Auburn will travel to No. 19 Tennessee, host No. 24 Vanderbilt and then travel to No. 23 Alabama.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 6:45 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 Tiffany Greene and Steffi Sorensen calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn held Texas A&M scoreless for 8 and a half minutes and defeated the Aggies 65-52 Thursday at Neville Arena, the Tigers’ third consecutive SEC home victory.
›› Mar’Shaun Bostic flirted with a triple-double, totaling 10 points, 10 assists and seven of Auburn’s 13 steals to record her first career double-double.
›› DeYona Gaston led four Auburn starters in double figures with 18 points. Yuting Deng added 12 points and Taylen Collins scored 10 on 5-of-8 shooting.
›› Auburn shut out the Aggies from the 3:05 mark of the first quarter until 4:30 remained in the second quarter, during which the Tigers turned a two-point lead into a 12-point advantage. Auburn led 28-14 at halftime, the Tigers’ best defensive showing in a half since holding Alabama to 12 points in 20 minutes on Feb. 17, 2019.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be Auburn’s first SEC road win of the year.
›› Improve the Tigers to 2-0 all-time against Oklahoma.
›› Give Auburn its first top-25 win of the season and fifth under Johnnie Harris.
›› Be Auburn’s first top-25 road win since 2021 at #19 Georgia Tech.
SERIES HISTORY VS. OKLAHOMA
›› Auburn and Oklahoma have met just once before, in the 2018 SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Auburn defeated the Sooners 95-79 at home.
›› This will be Auburn’s first-ever women’s basketball game in the state of Oklahoma. It will be the 39th state in which the Tigers have played a regular-season game.
LAST MEETING: Dec. 2, 2018, in Auburn
Auburn 95, Oklahoma 79
›› Auburn hit 13 3-pointers to set a new school record as the Tigers defeated Oklahoma 95-79 at Auburn Arena in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
›› Led by a double-double from sophomore Unique Thompson, five players scored in double-figures for the Tigers.
›› The Tigers made 13 3-pointers on the night, breaking the previous record of 12 that was set Dec. 5, 2007 - nearly 11 years ago to the day – against Colgate.
›› Thompson finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. Alexander led the Auburn attack with 19 points and also had a game-high five assists along with five rebounds. Emari Jones hit four of Auburn’s 13 treys and finished with 16 points, and Crystal Primm and Robyn Benton added 14 points apiece.
SCOUTING THE SOONERS
›› Oklahoma is 17-6 overall and 5-5 in SEC play. The Sooners have three top-25 wins on the year, defeating Louisville and Michigan in non-conference play and Tennessee in league play.
›› The Sooners are the nation’s No. 6 scoring offense at 86.2 points per game while allowing 68.6. They rank in the top 10 nationally in assists per game (2nd - 21.9), bench points per game (7th- 31.0), rebound margin (3rd - +12.9) and rebounds per game (3rd - 47.3).
›› Reagan Beers leads Oklahoma in scoring with 16.9 points per game, and she is sixth nationally in field goal percentage (66.1%).
›› Auburn faced OU head coach Jennie Baranczyk twice while she was the head coach at Drake. The Tigers won 85-80 at the 2016 Tulane Classic in New Orleans and dropped an 83-82 decision at the 2019 Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 12-11 overall, 2-7 in SEC play. The Tigers have won three straight home games in league play, but four of their next five are on the road, and their next four are against top-25 opponents.
›› Auburn has held 18 of 22 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 eighth-leading scorer and third in the SEC. She leads the Tigers with 21.8 points (3rd SEC; 8th NCAA) and 7.0 rebounds per game.. She has 11 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 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.
›› Senior Mar’Shaun Bostic is turning heads as the Tigers’ starting point guard recently, ranking third in the SEC and 17th nationally with 5.6 assists per game. She’s had five or more assists in 16 of 23 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 four 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. 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 8.2 points and 5.5 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 18 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.
›› Junior Oyindamola Akinbolawa has made 11 starts in the post, averaging 4.0 points and 4.3 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.
UP NEXT
›› It’s a quick turnaround for another tough road trip as the Tigers head to Knoxville to take on No. 19 Tennessee Thursday night. Game time is 5:30 p.m. CT at Thompson-Boling Arena.