GREENVILLE, S.C. – Postseason play begins for the Auburn women's basketball team Wednesday afternoon as the Tigers take on Florida in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Game time is 3 p.m. CT at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The Tigers will look to avenge an earlier loss to the Gators when a shorthanded Auburn team fell in Gainesville on Jan. 17, 68-54. That game was the Tigers' first in more than 10 days after two games had been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, and only eight scholarship players were able to travel.
In 41 previous appearances in the SEC Tournament, Auburn is 39-39. Last year, the Tigers defeated Vanderbilt in the first round 77-67 before falling to 25th-ranked Arkansas the next day.
The winner of Wednesday's game will move on to face 5th-seeded Kentucky in the second round at approximately 12:30 p.m. CT Thursday.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call beginning at 2:45 p.m. CT on WQSI 93.9 FM in Auburn. The game can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics mobile app.
›› The game can be seen on SEC Network with Eric Frede and Tamika Catchings in the booth and Steffi Sorensen on the sideline.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Three Tigers scored in double figures, but No. 20 Tennessee's size and speed were too much in an 88-54 loss Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
›› Alaina Rice led Auburn with 11 points and four assists and shared the team lead with five rebounds. Unique Thompson also had five rebounds along with 10 points, and Alycia Reese matched a season-high with 10 points as well. Romi Levy added eight points, and Honesty Scott-Grayson and Aicha Coulibaly each had three steals.
›› Tennessee shot 58 percent from the field, a season-high by an Auburn opponent, hitting 34-of-59 shots. Auburn was 21-of-67 (31%). The Tigers forced the Lady Vols into 18 turnovers, converting those into 17 points, but UT out-rebounded Auburn 47-29.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give Auburn at least one win in the SEC Tournament for the third straight year and the fifth time in the last six seasons.
›› Snap a two-game skid against Florida.
›› Improve Auburn to 9-2 all-time against Florida in the SEC Tournament.
AUBURN IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
›› This is the 42nd appearance in the SEC Tournament for Auburn. The Tigers are 39-39 all-time and own four SEC Tournament titles in 1981, 1987, 1990 and 1997.
›› This is coach Terri Williams-Flournoy's 9th appearance in the SEC Tournament as Auburn's head coach. The Tigers are 5-8 in the tournament under Coach Flo. She was an assistant at Georgia in 2001 when the Lady Bulldogs won the tournament title.
›› Auburn is the No. 13 seed for the third time. The Tigers were the 13-seed in 2015 in North Little Rock, Ark., defeating Florida in the first round before falling to Texas A&M in the second round. Auburn was also the 13-seed last season, defeating Vanderbilt in the first round before falling to Arkansas in the second round.
AUBURN-FLORIDA SERIES
›› Auburn is 38-23 all-time against Florida, including an 8-2 advantage in the SEC Tournament. The teams last met in the SEC Tournament in 2015 in North Little Rock, where Auburn earned a 71-49 win to avenge a regular-season loss.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 17, 2021, in Gainesville
Florida 68, Auburn 54
›› A shorthanded Auburn women's basketball team stayed within striking distance of Florida throughout, but the Tigers could not overcome a poor shooting first half in a 68-54 loss at the O'Connell Center.
›› The Tigers traveled just eight scholarship players and one walk-on to Florida after a week that saw two games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. But despite trailing by as many as 18 in the third quarter, Auburn cut the deficit to as few as seven midway through the fourth.
›› Unique Thompson, playing for the first time in four weeks, picked up where she left off with her eighth double-double of the season, posting 14 points and 14 rebounds. She also led Auburn with four assists and shared the team lead with two steals. Honesty Scott-Grayson led the Tigers with 18 points, and Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu added a career-high nine points in her first collegiate start.
›› Despite numerous good looks at the basket, the Tigers shot a season-low 27.9 percent from the field (19-68) while Florida was 25-of-59 (42.4%). The Tigers' defense came up big, especially in the second half, turning 12 Florida turnovers into 20 points. But despite out-rebounding the Gators 44-41, including 20 offensive rebounds, Auburn was only able to eke out two second-chance points.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
›› Florida is 10-12 overall and finished 3-11 in SEC play. The Gators enter the SEC Tournament having dropped four straight, despite averaging 77.5 points in those four contests.
›› For the season, the Gators average 73.5 points/game and give up 70.4/game.
›› Kiara Smith has been Florida's do-it-all player as she leads the Gators' active players in scoring (18.4), rebounding (6.7), assists (3.9) and steals (2.2). The Gators lost leading scorer Lavender Briggs for the season to an injury three weeks ago.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior forward Unique Thompson leads the SEC and is 3rd in the nation with 12.9 rebounds per game this year, and she leads Auburn with 17.9 points/game. She has 15 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 set the Auburn career record in rebounds with her 1,119th on Feb. 23 at Mississippi State. The previous record of 1,118 by Becky Jackson had stood since 1984.
›› 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 eight of 12 games since.
›› Redshirt sophomore Honesty Scott-Grayson, a Baylor transfer who sat out 2019-20, has started all 23 games, averaging 14.6 points/game. She had a career-high 30 points against Missouri, added 25 against Alabama and has topped the 20-point mark five times.
›› Sophomore Alaina Rice has become the Tigers' go-to point guard. She averages 4.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists on the year, and she led Auburn in scoring for the first time this year with 11 points at Tennessee.
AUBURN HONOR ROLL
›› Unique Thompson was a consensus preseason All-SEC First Team selection by the league's coaches and media. Despite being the SEC's leading rebounder and averaging a double-double, she was snubbed for First-Team honors by the league's coaches and landed on the All-SEC second team.
›› Thompson was also one of 20 players nationwide named to the Katrina McClain Award watch list, then she earned a spot on the McClain Award Top 10 released on Feb. 4. She was also named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 and Midseason Top 25, and she was named the 20th-best player in the country by ESPN in preseason rankings.
›› Thompson is one of 30 players nominated for the Senior CLASS Award.
›› Romi Levy was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
UP NEXT
›› With a win, Auburn would face Kentucky in the SEC Tournament second round Thursday afternoon. Game time would be approximately 12:30 p.m. CT with a national broadcast on SEC Network.
Tournament time: Auburn faces Florida in SEC first round
