AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's basketball team begins Southeastern Conference play Thursday night on the road when they take on Ole Miss. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT at the SJB Pavilion in Oxford, Miss.
The Tigers (10-2) closed out non-conference play last week with their seventh straight win, a 77-49 victory over North Florida at Neville Arena. Ole Miss (11-2) enters league play on a four-game winning streak of their own; the Rebels defeated Temple on the road last week to close out their non-conference slate.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on WQSI 93.9 FM beginning at 5:45 p.m. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
›› SEC Network + will have a live stream available on WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app. Jake Hromada and Lindsay King will call the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn coach Johnnie Harris wore a Santa cap and her team delivered gifts in all sizes: 3-pointers, jumpers and layups to lead the hot-shooting Tigers to a 77-49 victory over North Florida Tuesday at Neville Arena, Auburn's seventh straight win.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson scored 17 points to lead four Tigers in double figures; it was her seventh time in the last eight games to lead Auburn in scoring. Romi Levy scored 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Sydney Shaw scored 14 points and led Auburn with four assists while fellow freshman Kharyssa Richardson added a career-high 10 points.
›› The Tigers shot 52.6 percent from the floor, 50 percent on 3-pointers and 73.3 percent from the free-throw line while holding North Florida to a 29.1 percentage on field goals. Shaw was 3-of-5 on 3-pointers and Scott-Grayson made both of her 3-point attempts, improving to 49 percent (25 of 51) on the season.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Surpass the Tigers' win total from the entire 2021-22 season with their 11th of the year.
›› Give Auburn a win in their first true road game of the season.
›› Snap a two-game skid against Ole Miss.
›› Be the Tigers' eighth straight win.
›› Give Auburn its first SEC road win since Feb. 27, 2020 (95-82 at Missouri).
AUBURN-OLE MISS SERIES
›› Auburn is 37-27 all-time against Ole Miss in a series that dates back to 1978. Ole Miss has won the last two meetings, and the teams have split the last four contests in Oxford.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 24, 2022, at Auburn
Ole Miss 72, Auburn 52
›› Auburn fell in a deep hole in the first quarter and could never claw its way out as Ole Miss defeated the Tigers 72-52 at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers played catch-up from the start and were mostly even with the Rebels through the final three periods, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 13 points and six rebounds, and Jala Jordan added 11 off the bench. Xaria Wiggins made the most of her Senior Night with a season-high seven points. Mar'Shaun Bostic had a team-best four assists.
›› Ole Miss shot 50 percent from the floor to Auburn's 32.1, and the Rebels controlled the paint 34-18. Ole Miss also had 43 rebounds to Auburn's 21, scoring 17 second-chance points off 15 offensive boards. The Rebels ended the first quarter on a 17-0 run to take a 19-2 lead after 10 minutes. After Ole Miss took a 23-point lead at the half, Auburn would get no closer until the final seconds.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
›› Ole Miss is 11-2 on the season. The Rebels enter SEC play on a four-game winning streak.
›› The Rebels average 73.5 points per game while holding opponents to 52.8. Ole Miss' scoring defense ranks 12th in the nation, and the Rebels rank 19th nationally in field goal defense (34.5%).
›› Angel Baker leads the Rebels with 13.8 points per game, and Madison Scott is the top rebounder with 9.3 rebounds/game.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 10-2 after seven straight wins to close out non-conference play, the last six coming at home. The Tigers are 9-1 at home this season.
›› The Tigers rank 3rd nationally with 6.5 blocks per game. Auburn is also top-30 nationally in 3-point percentage at 38.2% (15th), turnovers forced per game at 22.4 (16th), turnover margin at +6.1 (23rd), and steals per game at 1.7 (19th). The Tigers are also 21st nationally in field goal defense (34.6%) and 27th in scoring margin (+20.2).
›› Junior Aicha Coulibaly is fourth in the SEC in scoring (16.8 ppg) and steals (2.3 spg). Those numbers rank her 86th nationally in scoring and 85th in steals. She has two double-doubles this season, with her last coming against UCF Dec. 3 (17 points, 12 rebounds). She was a preseason All-SEC Second Team selection. Coulibaly missed the Tigers' last three games.
›› Honesty Scott-Grayson averages 15.8 points to rank second on the team and 10th in the SEC. She has led Auburn in scoring in seven of the last eight games, topping the 20-point mark four times including a career-high 31 against North Carolina A&T. She is also the Tigers' top 3-point shooter, hitting 49.0% from long range (25-51) to rank 15th nationally.
›› Redshirt sophomore Romi Levy recorded double-doubles against both Alabama State and Little Rock. Against Little Rock, she had career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (13) for her second career double-double. Heading into SEC play, she has made 11-of-12 attempts from the field over the last two games.
›› Freshman point guard Sydney Shaw leads the Tigers with 3.8 assists/game, which ranks 9th in the SEC and leads all SEC freshmen. She scored a career-high 15 points and matched a season-best with 6 assists in the win over Louisiana-Lafayette, and she has scored at least 14 points in 3 of the last 4 games.
›› Auburn's newcomers have all made an immediate impact with three freshmen - Kaitlyn Duhon, Sydney Shaw and Kharyssa Richardson - starting each of the first four games. Duhon scored 17 points in the win over South Alabama. Richardson had a season-high 9 rebounds vs. Colorado State before leaving the game with injury. Junior Jakayla Johnson has earned four starts, scoring 8 points in two of the four.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn rings in the New Year as they host Missouri for their SEC home opener Sunday, Jan. 1. Game time is 3 p.m. CT at Neville Arena with a national broadcast on SEC Network.
Auburn women open SEC play at Ole Miss
