AUBURN, Ala.— Auburn women’s basketball begins a stretch of three games in three states over five days Sunday afternoon when the Tigers take on Seton Hall in South Orange, New Jersey.
Game time is noon CT/1 p.m. ET at Walsh Gymnasium on the Seton Hall campus.
The Tigers (8-2), coming off a 10-day break for final exams, hit the home stretch of non-conference play looking to bounce back from a pair of tough losses last week. Auburn came up just short at home to Oregon on Nov. 30 and dropped an overtime heartbreaker at Syracuse last Wednesday.
Seton Hall (5-3) also dropped their last two games, falling on the road at NC State and dropping a one-point contest at home to Columbia.
Following Sunday’s game, Auburn travels from New Jersey to Tennessee for a Tuesday contest at Middle Tennessee, then returns to the Plains for Thursday’s home game vs. Alcorn State.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 11:45 a.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game can be seen on ESPN+, which requires a subscription.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn fought back in the second half to force overtime, but the Tigers were unable to hold off Syracuse in the extra period, falling 66-60 in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
›› Auburn struggled to take care of the ball, turning it over a season-high 27 times, which led to 27 Orange points. Syracuse also controlled the glass, turning 16 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
›› Auburn out-shot Syracuse from the floor, 42 percent to 35, but the Orange went to the free-throw line 27 times, knocking down 22, while Auburn was 11-of-15 at the line. Harissoum Coulibaly led Auburn with 17 points, and Kaitlyn Duhon added 15 points along with six steals. Mya Petticord and A’riel Jackson scored nine points apiece.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give Auburn a 9-2 start to the season.
›› Be Auburn’s second true road win of the year, matching their total from the 2024-25 season.
›› Be Auburn’s fifth win in seven games played in the state of New Jersey.
›› Be Auburn’s first road win at a Big East opponent since the 2004-05 season, a 48-35 win at Syracuse.
AUBURN-SETON HALL SERIES
›› Auburn and Seton Hall will be playing for the second time in women’s basketball. The Tigers won the only previous meeting in 2010 at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.
›› Auburn is 19-10 all-time against Big East opponents. This will be the Tigers’ first game against a Big East foe since facing Georgetown during the 2017-18 season, and the first road game at a Big East opponent since traveling to Marquette during the 2015-16 season.
LAST MEETING: Nov. 27, 2010, in Freeport, Bahamas
Auburn 85, Seton Hall 51
›› Auburn rolled up a season-high 85 points on Seton Hall, pulling out the 85-51 consolation-round victory over the Pirates at the Junkanoo Jam. Alli Smalley led a pack of four Tigers in double figures with 15 points.
›› Following Smalley was junior Morgan Jennings with 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting. She also tallied two steals and four rebounds in the game. Also scoring in double figures was Blanche Alverson and Morgan Toles with 12 points each. Toles also dished out four assists while picking a team-high four steals. Freshman Jassany Williams came off the bench for eight points, pulling down a team-high seven rebounds with two blocked shots.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
›› Seton Hall is 5-3 overall with a 3-1 mark at home. The Pirates dropped their last two games at home to Columbia and on the road at NC State.
›› Last season, Seton Hall went 23-10 overall, 13-5 in Big East play and advanced to the second round of the WBIT.
›› Seton Hall averages 73.9 points per game and holds opponents to 61.6. The Pirates lead the Big east in offensive rebounds with 15.1 per game.
›› Savannah Catalon is SHU’s leading scorer with 14.1 points per game. Catalon also leads the Pirates and the Big East in steals with 3.5 per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 8-2 on the year, dropping their last two contests to Oregon and Syracuse. The Tigers’ 8-0 start was their best since 2008-09.
›› The Tigers rank 16th nationally in scoring defense, holding opponents to 53.3 points per game. Auburn also ranks 21st nationally in steals per game (12.7) and 26th in field goal percentage defense (34.3).
›› True freshman Harissoum Coulibaly averages 11.4 points per game off the bench to lead the Tigers, and she also shoots a team-best 57.3% from the field. She led Auburn with 19 points, matching a season-best, in the win over Georgia State Nov. 17. She 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 added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists vs. MVSU. She came to the U.S. from Paris, France, and she played high school basketball at S3 Academy in Virginia.
›› Mya Petticord, a senior transfer from Rutgers, hit the game-winning shot against her former team, hitting a driving layup with 10 seconds left to clinch the Tigers’ win Nov. 20. She 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. Petticord averages 11.2 points per game and leads the SEC in free-throw percentage at 96.2% (25-of-26).
›› Redshirt junior Kaitlyn Duhon, one of the top defenders in the SEC, leads the Tigers with 3.8 steals per game which ranks 5th in the SEC and 12th nationally. She had a career-best 7 steals in the win over Cal on Nov. 26, then had 15 points and six steals at Syracuse Dec. 3. She scored a season-high 16 points vs. Mississippi Valley State, one shy of a career-high. Duhon scored 14 points in the opener at Charlotte and matched a career-high with four assists. Against Georgia State, she matched a career-high with 8 rebounds.
›› Ja’Mia Harris scored in double figures in three of the first four 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.
›› Sophomore Khady Leye has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games. She scored a career-high 20 points in the win over MVSU, then she recorded her first Auburn double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. Georgia State. She added a team-leading 14 points in the win over Rutgers Nov. 20. She had three blocks and three steals in each of the first two games.
›› 6-9 redshirt freshmen Arek Angui notched her first career double-double with career-highs 11 points and 11 rebounds vs. Mississippi Valley State. She 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.
›› Senior guard Angena Belloso transferred from FIU where she played in 57 games the last 2 years. She scored a season-high 10 points, all in the second quarter, in Auburn’s game with Oregon Nov. 30.
›› Sophomore Syriah Daniels scored 10 points with four rebounds and two steals vs. MVSU. She played in 28 games last year, starting six, and averaged 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds.
›› Senior guard A’riel Jackson scored a season-high 17 points, going 7-11 from the field and 3-3 from 3-point range to lead the Tigers in their win over Cal Nov. 26. Two days earlier, she scored a season-high 12 points in the win over UTSA. Jackson knocked down three first-half treys, scoring 9 points with a team-best 4 assists vs. UNCG. She then had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists against Alabama State.
›› 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 scored a season-high 4 points in the win over Cal.
›› 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.
›› Sophomore guard Eva Garabadian joined the Tigers as a walk-on in mid-November. She played in 16 games at Georgia College last year as a freshman.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn is back in action Tuesday, Dec. 16, on the road at Middle Tennessee. Game time is 6:30 p.m. at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.