AUBURN, Ala. – It’s the final home game of the regular season Sunday when the Auburn women’s basketball team hosts Mississippi State at Neville Arena. Game time is 2 p.m. CT.
Prior to the game, Auburn’s four seniors – Mar’Shaun Bostic, Taylen Collins, DeYona Gaston and Celia Sumbane – will be recognized on the court. The pregame ceremony is set to begin at approximately 1:40 p.m.
Fans arriving early can pick up a thank-you card from the seniors, and the seniors will sign autographs following the game.
Tickets are available in advance at AUBTix.com and also at the Neville Arena ticket office on gameday.
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 JJ Jackson and former Tiger Carsen McFadden calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› DeYona Gaston put together another stellar performance, but Auburn could not hold onto a fourth-quarter lead as Georgia rallied for a 62-59 win Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
›› The Tigers led by as many as nine points in the fourth and had a six-point lead with less than five minutes to go, but Georgia went on a 13-3 run to move ahead in the final two minutes. A Yuting Deng 3-pointer with four seconds left cut the deficit to one, and after two made Georgia free throws, the Tigers had an opportunity to tie. Deng launched another 3-point attempt, but it was wide of the mark as time expired.
›› Gaston scored 26 points with six rebounds and a pair of assists. Deng added 16 points, knocking down four 3-pointers on the night. Mar’Shaun Bostic dished out eight assists. Turnovers, especially late, proved to be the difference. Georgia scored 21 points off 17 Tiger turnovers, with nine of those points coming off six fourth-quarter giveaways. Both teams shot free throws well – Auburn at 84.6 percent (11-13) and Georgia at 79.2 percent (19-24).
ROAD TO GREENVILLE
›› On the final day of the season, Auburn could still finish anywhere from 12th to 15th in the final standings. The Tigers’ first game of the tournament would be Wednesday, March 5, regardless of outcome. The results of the Texas A&M-Arkansas game and Missouri-Vanderbilt game will determine Auburn’s final placement in the bracket.
›› With a win and a Georgia loss, Auburn would be the 12th seed and play at 12:30 p.m. CT. Potential opponents could be Missouri, Texas A&M or Georgia.
›› With a win and a Georgia win, Auburn could be the 13-seed and face Georgia or the 14-seed and face Florida.
›› With a loss, Auburn would be the 14th or 15th seed. If Auburn is the 14-seed, they would play Florida at 7:30 p.m. CT. If Auburn is the 15-seed, they would play Vanderbilt at 5 p.m. CT.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Snap a five-game losing streak.
›› Give Auburn its fourth home SEC win.
›› Be Auburn’s second straight home win over Mississippi State.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
›› Auburn is 36-27 all-time against Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs have controlled the series over the last 10 years, winning 12 of the last 13. Auburn snapped the skid on Senior Night at home last season, and Mississippi State won this season’s earlier meeting in Starkville.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 23, 2025, in Starkville
Mississippi State 96, Auburn 56
›› Auburn’s DeYona Gaston had her 10th game of the season with 20-plus points, but a big Mississippi State run in the second quarter led the Bulldogs to a 96-56 win at Humphrey Coliseum.
›› Gaston led all scorers with 26 points, but it was not enough to overcome a Bulldog team that shot a season-high 62.3 percent from the floor and also controlled the paint and the boards. Celia Sumbane added 10 points for the Tigers, and Mar’Shaun Bostic had five assists.
›› Meanwhile, Auburn shot 34.4 percent, a season-low, and was out-rebounded 44-23. State scored 56 of their 96 points in the paint and also knocked down eight 3-pointers.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
›› Mississippi State is 19-10 overall and 6-9 in SEC play.
›› The Bulldogs average 76.2 points per game and hold opponents to 63.2.
›› Jerkalia Jordan leads MSU with 16.0 points per game. Madina Okot is fifth in the nation and second in the SEC in field goal percentage at 65.8%, and Debreasha Powe is the second-leading 3-point shooter in the SEC at 42.3%.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 12-16 overall, 3-12 in SEC play. The Tigers have held 20 of 27 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 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. She has 15 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. Akinbolawa returned to the starting lineup at Georgia.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn will play Wednesday, March 5, in the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C. Opponent and game time have yet to be determined.