SYRACUSE, N.Y.— The Auburn women’s basketball team has made its way to snow-covered upstate New York for its second true road game of the season as they take on Syracuse Wednesday night as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Game time is 4 p.m. CT at the JMA Wireless Dome on the Syracuse campus.
It’s the third straight year for Auburn (8-1) to participate in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Tigers are 2-0 in their previous appearances, defeating Clemson 83-53 at home in 2023 and earning a 66-57 road win at Virginia last season. Syracuse (6-1) is unbeaten on their home court this year with their lone loss at a neutral site to a top-20 Michigan squad.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 3:45 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game can be seen on ACC Network with Kylen Mills and Angela Taylor calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› In a battle of unbeatens, Auburn led by 14 early in the second half but Oregon took control down the stretch to win 58-53 Sunday at Neville Arena, handing the Tigers their first loss.
›› Mya Petticord, who led Auburn with 13 points, hit three free throws with 14 seconds left to again pull the Tigers within three points but Fiso secured Oregon’s win with a pair of free throws a second later. A’riel Jackson led Auburn with six rebounds and Ja’Mia Harris had four of the Tigers’ six assists.
›› Angena Belloso scored a season-high 10 points, all in the second quarter.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give Auburn a 9-1 start to the season, their best since opening the 2018-19 season at 12-1.
›› Be Auburn’s third straight win in the ACC/SEC Challenge (Clemson 2023, at Virginia 2024).
›› Be Auburn’s second win over an ACC opponent this season.
AUBURN-SYRACUSE SERIES
›› Auburn and Syracuse will be meeting for the sixth time. Auburn is 5-0 in previous meetings, including a 2-0 mark in Syracuse.
›› This will be Auburn’s first women’s basketball game in the JMA Wireless Dome; the two previous games in Syracuse were played at the Manley Field House.
›› It will mark the first time that Auburn women’s basketball plays a game in the same facility in which an Auburn football game has been played. Auburn football played in the building then known as the Carrier Dome on Sept. 22, 2001, the first college or professional football game in the state of New York following the tragic events of Sept. 11.
LAST MEETING: Dec. 19, 2004, in Syracuse
Auburn 48, Syracuse 35
›› Nicole Louden, Louise Emeagi and Natasha Brackett scored 37 of Auburn’s 48 points to lead the Tigers to a 48-35 win at Manley Field House.
›› Brackett led Auburn with 14 points along with six rebounds and five assists. Louden had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Emeagi recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Marita Payne had a game-best 14 rebounds.
SCOUTING THE ORANGE
›› Syracuse is 6-1 on the season. Like Auburn, their lone loss came to a Big Ten opponent (Michigan). The Orange are 5-0 at home.
›› Last season, Syracuse went 12-18 overall, 6-12 in ACC play. The Orange were picked to finish 13th in the ACC this year.
›› Syracuse averages 72.3 points per game while holding opponents to 55.4. The Orange are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation, averaging 17.7 per game (10th NCAA).
›› Laila Phelia averages 13.3 points per game to lead the Orange. Uche Izoje, who was named the ACC Rookie of the Week this week, is the team’s leading rebounder with 6.6 per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 8-1 on the year with their lone loss coming at home to Oregon on Nov. 30. The Tigers’ 8-0 start was their best since 2008-09.
›› The Tigers rank 13th nationally in scoring defense, holding opponents to 51.9 points per game. Auburn also ranks 28th nationally in steals per game (12.4) and 31st in field goal percentage defense (34.2).
›› 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 leads the Tigers with 11.4 points per game and leads the SEC in free-throw percentage at 95.8% (23-of-24).
›› True freshman Harissoum Coulibaly averages 10.8 points per game off the bench, and she also shoots a team-best 55.7% 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, one of the top defenders in the SEC, leads the Tigers with 3.6 steals per game which ranks 6th in the SEC and 18th nationally. She had a career-best 7 steals in the win over Cal on Nov. 26. 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. She then matched her scoring output with 14 against Alabama State, along with a career-high 5 steals. 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 seven 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.
DEFENSE IS OUR STRENGTH
›› Through games of Nov. 30, Auburn ranks fourth in the SEC and 13th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 51.9 points per game.
›› Eight of nine opponents on Auburn’s schedule have been held below their season scoring average, and five have been held to season-lows.
UP NEXT
›› After a 10-day break for final exams, the Tigers will be back in action Sunday, Dec. 14, on the road as they travel to South Orange, New Jersey, to take on Seton Hall.