AUBURN, Ala.— It’s the Plains Classic Holiday Game Thursday night in Neville Arena when Auburn women’s basketball takes on Alcorn State. Game time is 6 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal for the annual Teddy Bear Toss – at halftime, throw your teddy bear on the court to be collected to give out to area children.
The Tigers are also giving back Thursday night – we’re handing out fan- and community-donated books to kids in the community. Kids of all ages can pick up a free book – first-come, first-served.
Auburn (9-3) is at the back end of a three-game, three-state, five-day stretch. The Tigers arrived home early Wednesday morning after a trek from home to New Jersey, then to Murfreesboro, and finally back to the Plains. Auburn got back on the winning track Tuesday night with a 68-52 win at Middle Tennessee. Alcorn State is 3-6 on the season.
Tickets are available in advance via the Auburn Athletics app or by visiting AUBTix.com. And, as always, Aubie’s Kids’ Club members receive free admission to all home women’s basketball games.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 5:45 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 Graham Doty and hall-of-fame coach Joe Ciampi calling the action. SECN+ is available via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app with a cable or streaming subscription.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Syriah Daniels matched a career-high with 14 points, and Auburn’s women got it done at both ends of the court in a 68-52 win over Middle Tennessee Tuesday night at the Murphy Center.
›› The Tigers (9-3) shot 57 percent from the floor and converted 25 MTSU turnovers into 28 points as Auburn snapped a three-game skid and won on the road for the second time this year.
›› Daniels, making her first start of the season, scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a career-best three 3-pointers. The Auburn High product also set or matched career-highs with six rebounds – four of them on the offensive glass – four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
›› Harissoum Coulibaly, also making her first start, led the Tigers with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. She matched Daniels with four assists and a pair of steals. Khady Leye had six rebounds along with seven points, Kaitlyn Duhon had eight points, and Sania Richardson swiped a career-best four steals along with five points.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give Auburn 10 non-conference wins for the third time in the last four seasons.
›› Move Auburn to 6-1 at home.
›› Improve Auburn to 55-3 all-time against current members of the SWAC.
AUBURN-ALCORN STATE SERIES
›› This is the second meeting between Auburn and Alcorn in women’s basketball.
›› Auburn won the only prior meeting on Nov. 26, 1993, when the 5th-ranked Tigers defeated Alcorn 71-66 in overtime in the Hobby Hilton Classic in Houston, Texas.
SCOUTING THE LADY BRAVES
›› Alcorn State is 3-6 on the season but 0-6 against Division I competition. The Lady Braves have played two other SEC teams already, falling to Alabama on the road and to Mississippi State at a neutral site.
›› Last season, Alcorn went 14-18 overall, 10-8 in SWAC play.
›› Nakia Cheatham averages 12.7 points and 5.2 rebounds to lead the Lady Braves.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 9-3 on the year, getting back on the winning track at MTSU after dropping three straight to Oregon, Syracuse and Seton Hall.
›› The Tigers rank 26th nationally in scoring defense, holding opponents to 54.5 points per game. Auburn also ranks 33rd nationally in steals per game (11.9) and 41st in field goal percentage defense (35.4).
›› True freshman Harissoum Coulibaly averages a team-best 10.8 points per game mostly off the bench; she made her first start Tuesday at MTSU where she led the Tigers with 16 points. She also shoots a team-best 55.6% 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.
›› Redshirt junior Kaitlyn Duhon averages 10.7 points per game. One of the top defenders in the SEC, she also leads the Tigers with 3.3 steals per game, which ranks 6th in the SEC and 21st nationally. Duhon scored a career-high 20 points and was 5-of-5 from 3-point range at Seton Hall Dec. 14. She also 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. Against Georgia State, she matched a career-high with 8 rebounds.
›› Sophomore Khady Leye has been steady, averaging 9.4 points and a team-best 5.6 rebounds. 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.
›› Sophomore Syriah Daniels dazzled in her first start of the season at MTSU, setting or matching career-highs with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in the win. She also 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.
›› 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).
›› 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, and she had 17 points and 7 rebounds at Seton Hall.
›› 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.
›› 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.
›› 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 and made her Auburn debut with three minutes of action at MTSU. She played in 16 games at Georgia College last year as a freshman.
DEFENSE IS OUR STRENGTH
›› Through games of Dec. 16, Auburn ranks seventh in the SEC and 26th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 54.5 points per game.
›› All 12 opponents on Auburn’s schedule have been held below their season scoring average, and two have been held to season-lows.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn is off for the holiday break until Monday, Dec. 29, when the Tigers take on Jackson State at Neville Arena in the non-conference finale. Game time is 1 p.m. CT.