AUBURN, Ala. – After an unexpected eight-day break from competition, the Auburn women's basketball team kicks off a busy final week of the season with a rare Tuesday night tilt at Mississippi State. Game time is 5 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss.
Tuesday's game was originally scheduled for last Thursday but was postponed because of the icy weather conditions that affected much of the region last week. With the move to this week, Auburn now faces a grueling final week of the regular season with three games in six days – Tuesday at Mississippi State, Thursday at home vs. Arkansas, and Sunday at Tennessee.
Senior Unique Thompson heads into the season's final week just 10 rebounds away from breaking the Auburn career record. With 1,109 career boards, she trails just Becky Jackson on the all-time list; Jackson had 1,118 rebounds in her career from 1980-84.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at 4:45 p.m. CT on WTGZ 95.9 FM. The game can also be heard online at AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics app.
›› Tuesday's game can be seen on SEC Network + with Bart Gregory and Charlie Winfield on the call. SEC Network + is available via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
LAST TIME OUT
›› A combined 49 points from Unique Thompson and Honesty Scott-Grayson were part of Auburn's best offensive night of SEC play, but Alabama's outside game was too much in a 92-78 Auburn loss at Auburn Arena on Feb. 14.
›› The Tigers shot 50.8 percent from the field and had a season-low seven turnovers, but Alabama – led by 41 points from senior Jasmine Walker – hit 15 3-pointers and controlled the glass to earn its second win over Auburn this season.
›› Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 25 points, giving her a combined 55 points in her last two home games after a 30-point effort against Missouri last Sunday. Thompson added 24 points on 12-of-18 shooting, along with a team-high six rebounds. With 1,109 rebounds in her career, Thompson now needs 10 more to set the Auburn career rebounding record. Becky Jackson holds the current mark of 1,118; the record has stood since 1984.
›› Freshman Aicha Coulibaly also contributed a season-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting; it was her second SEC game in double figures. Alaina Rice, back in the starting lineup, dished out a career-high nine assists.
›› Auburn hit 32 of 63 attempts from the floor (50.8%) for its best shooting night in SEC play and second-best overall this season. Alabama matched Auburn's overall percentage at 50.8 percent (30-of-59), but was 15-of-28 from 3-point range (53.6%) and out-rebounded the Tigers 40-24, a season-low in rebounds for Auburn.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Be the Tigers' first road victory of the season.
›› Snap an eight-game skid against Mississippi State.
›› Improve Auburn's record to 3-2 against Bulldogs in 2020-21 (def. Samford, Gardner-Webb; lost to Georgia 2x).
AUBURN-MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES
›› This is the 60th meeting between Auburn and Mississippi State in women's basketball. Auburn is 35-23 against the Bulldogs, but MSU has won the last six meetings, including four straight in Starkville.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 20, 2020, in Auburn
#9 Mississippi State 92, Auburn 85 (OT)
›› Auburn got a career record-tying double-double from Unique Thompson, a school-record night at the free-throw line from Daisa Alexander, and took the No. 9 team in the country to overtime, but ultimately came up short in a 92-85 loss to Mississippi State at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers led for most of regulation, lost the lead late, and had the ball with a chance to win the game with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But a 10-second backcourt violation by Auburn and a missed shot by MSU at the buzzer set the game to an extra period. In overtime, MSU's Rickea Jackson took over, scoring nine points as the Bulldogs pulled away for the win.
›› Thompson got the 40th double-double of her career with a 24-point, 11-rebound night. She almost had it by halftime with 15 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Thompson also added two steals, a block and an assist, and was 8-for-9 at the free-throw line.
›› Alexander went a perfect 12-for-12 at the free-throw line, setting a new Auburn record for free throws in a game without a miss. On the night, Alexander finished with 21 points; she also had six assists and a season-high five steals.
›› Auburn had its best free-throw shooting night of the season, hitting 28-of-31 attempts (90.3%). The Tigers also were tough from long range, going 9-for-19 (47.4%) on 3-pointers, and shooting 42.9 percent overall (24-for-56).
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
›› Mississippi State is 8-7 overall, 3-6 in SEC play. The Bulldogs have only played two games in the month of February after a combination of cancellations and postponements, mostly related to weather.
›› The Bulldogs average 73.9 points/game while holding opponents to 67.3. MSU is the SEC's fourth-best 3-point shooting team at 36.2%.
›› Rickea Jackson (15.8 ppg) and Jessika Carter (14.7 ppg) are MSU's top two scorers; Carter also leads State with 9.1 rebounds/game. Myah Taylor leads MSU in 3-point shooting, assists and steals.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior forward Unique Thompson leads the SEC and the nation with 13.0 rebounds per game this year and leads Auburn with 17.8 points/game. She has 13 double-doubles on the season, which leads the SEC and is fourth nationally. Thompson pulled down her 1,000th career rebound against Belmont on Dec. 20 and is one of two active players nationally with over 1,000 career rebounds.
›› She needs 10 more rebounds to break the all-time Auburn record of 1,118, held by Becky Jackson.
›› Thompson was unavailable the first three games of SEC play with medical issues, but made her return at Florida Jan. 17 and has recorded double-doubles in six of eight games since.
›› Redshirt sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson, a Baylor transfer who sat out 2019-20, has started all 20 games, averaging 14.3 points/game. She had a career-high 30 points against Missouri, added 25 against Alabama and has topped the 20-point mark four times. In SEC play, Scott-Grayson averages 16.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.9 assists per game.
›› Freshman Romi Levy and sophomore Alaina Rice have worked their way into the starting lineup, along with junior Keya Patton. Levy averages 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds; 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in SEC play. She had 12 rebounds at Arkansas. Rice averages 5.3 points and a team-leading 2.2 assists in SEC play, including a career-high 9 assists vs. Alabama, and Patton has averaged 6.8 points in league games.
UP NEXT
›› It will be Senior Night at Auburn Arena on Thursday, Feb. 25, as Arkansas visits for an 8 p.m. tip. Senior forward Unique Thompson and senior manager Trey Larrimore will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
Women's hoops begins busy week at Mississippi State
