AUBURN, Ala.— It’s the rivalry renewed Thursday night when Auburn women’s basketball hosts No. 21 Alabama at Neville Arena. Game time is 8 p.m. CT, and arena doors open at 7 p.m.
Thursday’s game is “Welcome to the Jungle” night with several promotions for both Auburn students and the general public. All fans entering at the scholarship entrance will receive an exclusive camouflage bucket hat, and all students will receive a tiger stripe cowboy hat.
Also, performing at halftime will be the ever-popular Recycled Teenagers from Opelika.
The Tigers (12-6, 1-3 SEC) are coming off their first SEC win of the season, a 60-50 victory over Florida Sunday at home that saw Auburn’s defense stand tall, holding the Gators to their season-low scoring total.
Alabama (17-1, 3-1) is on a short turnaround after a road win at Missouri Monday night. The Crimson Tide, at No. 21 in both polls, are the first of five straight ranked teams awaiting the Tigers; Auburn’s next four games are at No. 5 Vanderbilt, vs. No. 13 Oklahoma, vs. No. 2 South Carolina and at No. 16 Ole Miss.
Tickets are available in advance by visiting AUBTix.com or via the Auburn Athletics app. Tickets will also be available at the Neville Arena ticket office on gameday. As always, members of Aubie’s Kids Club 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 7:45 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 Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn survived a Gator avalanche to earn its first SEC victory, placing three scorers in double figures to defeat Florida 60-50 Sunday at Neville Arena, the first conference win of the Larry Vickers era.
›› Harissoum Coulibaly and Kaitlyn Duhon each scored 14 points, Mya Petticord added 11, and Ja’Mia Harris flirted with a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.
›› Auburn made 9 of 10 free throws in the final quarter to keep the Gators at bay, outscoring Florida 20-11 in the final 10 minutes.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be its second straight home win over Alabama.
›› Improve the Tigers to 9-2 at home this season.
›› Be Auburn’s first ranked win since 2024 vs. No. 7 LSU.
AUBURN-ALABAMA SERIES
›› This is the 105th meeting between Auburn and Alabama in women’s basketball, the second-most played series in the SEC behind Ole Miss-Mississippi State. Auburn is 54-50 all-time against the Crimson Tide in a series that dates back to 1973.
›› Auburn’s and Alabama’s records do not match because Alabama did not sponsor women’s basketball as a varsity sport until the 1974-75 season. Two meetings in 1973 and 1974 were between Auburn’s varsity team and Alabama’s club team. Auburn lost to Alabama 33-29 in 1973, then defeated the Tide 69-31 on Jan. 11, 1974, in the first women’s game at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 23, 2025, in Tuscaloosa
No. 18 Alabama 66, Auburn 50
›› Auburn’s DeYona Gaston recorded her seventh double-double of the season, but No. 18 Alabama pulled away in the second half for a 66-50 win Sunday afternoon at Coleman Coliseum.
›› Auburn led for nearly the whole first half, but turnovers proved costly as a 17-0 Alabama run to end the second quarter gave the Tide their first lead, and the Tigers would never regain the advantage in the second half.
›› Gaston finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Tigers in both categories; she was Auburn’s only player in double-figures. Alabama scored 34 points off 21 Auburn turnovers. The Tide shot 48.1 percent from the floor to Auburn’s 40.4 percent, and Alabama hit eight 3-pointers while the Tigers made just one.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE
›› Alabama is 17-1 overall, 3-1 in SEC play and off to their best start in decades. The Tide’s only loss so far this season has come to South Carolina, currently No. 2 nationally.
›› The Crimson Tide scores 73.4 points per game and is one of the top defensive teams nationally, allowing 53.1 points per game (2nd SEC/7th NCAA). The Tide also ranks 12th nationally in field goal percentage defense (34.6%).
›› Jessica Timmons leads Alabama with 15.4 points per game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 12-6 on the year, picking up its first SEC win on Sunday as the Tigers defeated Florida at home.
›› True freshman Harissoum Coulibaly averages a team-best 11.3 points per game mostly off the bench; she has started four of the last seven games, however. She was named SEC Freshman of the Week Dec. 23 after averaging 15.0 points in the two wins over MTSU and Alcorn. She also shoots a team-best 52.6% 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 9.8 points per game. One of the top defenders in the SEC, she also leads the Tigers with 3.4 steals per game, which ranks 4th in the SEC and 16th nationally. She shared the team lead with 14 points in the win over Florida Jan. 11. 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. She matched her career-high in steals with 7 at Mississippi State on Jan. 1.
›› Sophomore Khady Leye has been steady, averaging 8.9 points and a team-best 5.1 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 and matched that 14-point total against Tennessee Jan. 4.
›› Mya Petticord, a senior transfer from Rutgers, matched a season high with 21 points, hitting 4-of-5 3s to lead Auburn in the win over Jackson State. She 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 10.1 points per game and is one of the nation’s top free-throw shooters at 88.9% (32-36).
›› Ja’Mia Harris scored in double figures in three of the first four games. Most recently, she flirted with a double-double, scoring 8 points with a career-high 9 rebounds in the win over Florida Jan. 11. 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. She shares the team lead in assists.
›› 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.
›› Freshman Sania Richardson had the best game of her young career with 12 points in the win over Jackson State. She averages 3.9 points off the bench and is becoming one of Auburn’s top 3-point threats.
›› 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 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, a Mississippi State transfer, made her first appearance of the season against her former school Jan. 1, making an immediate impact with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. She missed the first 14 games with an injury suffered late last season. She 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.
UP NEXT
›› After an open date, Auburn is back in action Thursday, Jan. 22, on the road at No. 5 Vanderbilt. Game time is 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Gym. The Tigers’ next home game is Sunday, Jan. 25, against No. 13 Oklahoma.