AUBURN, Ala.— More than 3,000 local schoolchildren are expected to descend on Neville Arena Thursday as Auburn women’s basketball hosts Mississippi Valley State for Education Day.
Game time is 11 a.m. CT, and arena doors for the general public will open at 10 a.m.
The unbeaten Tigers look for a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Mississippi Valley State comes into Thursday’s game at 0-2.
PARKING AND TICKET INFO
›› Due to the early start on an Auburn University class day, parking passes for the Neville Arena lot will NOT be valid. Normal weekday university parking regulations will be in effect. Those with a valid A, B, or C parking pass can park in the arena or coliseum lots.
›› General public parking for the game will be available in the fourth level of the Stadium Deck and the top level of the Athletic Complex deck. ADA parking will be reserved in the Extension Loop lot off Wire Road.
›› Fans with reserved tickets may sit in their regular seats. Those with general admission tickets will be directed to sections 117 and 118 as the rest of the general admission lower bowl will be reserved for elementary students.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 10:45 a.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 the Auburn Sports Network radio call paired with the video board feed.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn made nine first-half 3-pointers and held off a late rally to begin the Larry Vickers era with a third consecutive win, defeating UNC Greensboro 64-57 Monday at Neville Arena.
›› Mya Petticord made 4 of 7 3-point attempts and led Auburn with 18 points. Ja’Mia Harris added 11 points and a team-leading seven rebounds while Khady Leye also scored 11.
›› After the first-half fireworks, the Tigers attempted only one 3-pointer in third quarter, preferring to look inside to attack UNC Greensboro’s zone defense. Leye scored 10 of her 11 points in the quarter, helping the Tigers extend their lead to 16 points.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give Auburn a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
›› Improve Auburn to 54-3 all-time against current members of the SWAC.
›› Be Auburn’s 24th win in its last 26 non-conference home games.
AUBURN-MVSU SERIES
›› This is the first meeting between Auburn and Mississippi Valley State in women’s basketball.
›› MVSU will be the 11th current member of the SWAC that Auburn has faced. The only remaining SWAC school the Tigers will have not played is Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
SCOUTING THE DEVILETTES
›› MVSU is 0-2 on the year. The Devilettes will play their second straight game against an SEC opponent after falling at Mississippi State last week, 107-43.
›› Last season, MVSU went 8-23 overall and 6-12 in conference play. The Devilettes were picked to finish 12th in the SWAC this year.
›› Jaeda Murpy leads MVSU with 8.5 points per game. She led the team with 11 points at Troy and scored 6 at Misisssippi State.
›› Jason James is in his first full year as MVSU head coach. He served as interim head coach the second half of last season after serving the previous two seasons as an assistant.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 3-0 for the fourth straight season after wins over Charlotte, Alabama State and UNC Greensboro to open the season.
›› Auburn welcomes 10 new players to the 2025-26 roster: 7 DIvision I transfers, 1 junior college transfer and 2 true freshmen. The Tigers return just two players from last year’s team, redshirt junior guard Kaitlyn Duhon and sophomore forward Syriah Daniels.
›› Duhon scored 14 points in the opener at Charlotte and matched a career-high with four assists. She then matched her scoring output with 14 against Alabama State, along with a career-high 5 steals. She leads the Tigers in steals with 3.3 per game.
›› Daniels scored four points with one steal at Charlotte in the opener. She played in 28 games last year, starting six, and averaged 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds.
›› Mya Petticord, a senior transfer from Rutgers, had her best game in two years with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting (3-4 3FG) in the win over Alabama State. She followed that up with a team-leading 18 points (4-7 3FG) in the win over UNCG. She averages 13.7 points and his shooting 53.8% from 3-point range.
›› Ja’Mia Harris leads the Tigers with 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures in all three games. She shared the team lead with 19 points and led the Tigers with 8 rebounds in the win at Charlotte Nov. 3, then scored 16 with four 3-pointers in the win over Alabama State. She followed that up with a pair of 3-pointers on an 11-point night - along with 7 rebounds - vs. UNCG.
›› True freshman Harissoum Coulibaly made a splash in her college debut Nov. 3 at Charlotte, scoring a team-leading 19 points with nine of those coming in the pivotal overtime period. She is averaging 10.7 points and 4.0 rebounds through two games She came to the U.S. from Paris, France, and she played high school basketball at S3 Academy in Virginia.
›› Sophomore Khady Leye had her best game so far with 11 points and 5 rebounds vs. UNCG on Monday. She had three blocks and three steals in each of the first two games. Leye was a four-time conference rookie of the week honoree last season at Towson, where she averaged 9.9 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game.
›› Senior guard A’riel Jackson knocked down three first-half treys, scoring 9 points with a team-best 4 assists vs. UNCG. She made her first Auburn start at Charlotte, scoring five points with three rebounds and two steals. She then had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists against Alabama State.
›› Senior guard Angena Belloso transferred from FIU where she played in 57 games the last 2 years. She averaged 7.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists as a junior. She scored her first Auburn bucket against Alabama State Nov. 8.
›› 6-9 redshirt freshmen Arek Angui came from Central Florida, where she appeared in two games as a true freshman last year. She made her first appearance for Auburn against Alabama State Nov. 8 and pulled down a team-leading 8 rebounds along with 3 points. Originally from South Sudan, she played one season of high school basketball at Greenforest Academy in Georgia.
›› Junior Clara Koulibaly came from the junior college ranks, where she started all 28 games last season at Gulf Coast State CC and averaged 12.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She has played in all three games so far, averaging 2.3 rebounds.
›› Junior forward Quanirah Montague appeared in all 34 games last year for Mississippi State, averaging 4.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn plays its fourth of five straight home games Monday, Nov. 17, when the Tigers host Georgia State. Game time is 6 p.m. CT at Neville Arena.