AUBURN, Ala.— Auburn women’s basketball plays its second of five straight games against top-25 opponents Thursday night when the Tigers travel to Nashville to take on No. 5/4 Vanderbilt. Game time is 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Gym.
The Tigers (13-6, 2-3 SEC) head to Nashville on a two-game winning streak and fresh off an open date. Auburn picked up a pair of conference wins at home last week, defeating Florida 60-50 last Sunday and picking up their first top-25 win under Larry Vickers with a rivalry victory over No. 21 Alabama 58-54 last Thursday.
Vanderbilt (19-0, 5-0) is one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the country. The Commodores stepped out of league play Monday and picked up their second top-10 win this month with a 72-69 victory over No. 7 Michigan in Newark, New Jersey.
ON THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 6:15 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 Andrew Allegretta and Richard Hendrix calling the action.
LAST TIME OUT
›› The Tigers made all 10 of their free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 21 Alabama 58-54 Thursday at Neville Arena, holding the Crimson Tide to a season-low in scoring.
›› An Auburn turnover with 15 seconds to go gave the visitors a chance to tie or win, but Syriah Daniels took a charge on Timmons with four seconds left. Ja’Mia Harris hit a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to secure the Tigers’ first ranked win since beating No. 7 LSU in 2024.
›› Khady Leye led Auburn with 16 points and nine rebounds.
AN AUBURN WIN WOULD...
›› Give the Tigers back-to-back top-25 wins for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
›› Be Auburn’s first win at Memorial Gym since 2019.
›› Give Auburn a 3-game SEC winning streak, their first since the end of the 2024 regular season.
›› Snap a 10-game SEC road skid.
AUBURN-VANDERBILT SERIES
›› This is the 58th meeting between Auburn and Vanderbilt in women’s basketball. Vandy leads the series 32-25, including a 16-9 edge at Memorial Gym.
›› Vanderbilt won 20 straight in the series from 2001-2014, but Auburn has won 9 of 13 since.
›› Vanderbilt has won the last three meetings at Memorial Gym, but Auburn had won four in row prior to that.
›› It’s the third straight time Auburn will travel to Vanderbilt immediately after picking up a top-25 win. In 2022, Auburn stunned No. 4 Tennessee on Jan. 25, then played at Vandy three days later. In 2024, the Tigers played at Memorial Gym four days after their historic upset of defending national champion and No. 7 LSU.
LAST MEETING: Feb. 16, 2025, in Auburn
Vanderbilt 98, Auburn 88 (OT)
›› Yuting Deng scored a career-high 27 points, but Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes exploded for an
NCAA freshman record 55 to help the Commodores overcome a 15-point fourth quarter deficit and
defeat Auburn 98-88 in overtime at Neville Arena.
›› Vanderbilt scored the first nine points of overtime, outscoring the Tigers 14-4 in the extra period.
›› Mar’Shaun Bostic recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists. DeYona Gaston made 9 of 11 shots and scored 25 points.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
›› Vanderbilt is one of two remaining unbeaten teams in Division I at 19-0 overall, 5-0 SEC. At No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the coaches’ poll, the Commodores have their highest national ranking since the 2001-02 season.
›› The Commodores average 86.1 points per game, the 10th-best scoring average in the nation, and hold opponents to 58.2 per game. Vandy is also top-15 nationally in field goal percentage (14th, 47.5%), assists (6th, 20.6), 3-pointers per game (5th, 10.0), turnover margin (7th, +9.7), and assist/turnover ratio (5th, 1.67).
›› Mikayla Blakes is the SEC’s leading scorer and second nationally with 25.0 points per game. Justine Pissott is the league’s top 3-point shooter, making 3.1 per game and shooting 44.4 percent from long range.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Auburn is 13-6 on the year and has won two straight SEC games with a pair of home wins last week over Florida and No. 21 Alabama.
›› True freshman Harissoum Coulibaly averages a team-best 11.0 points per game mostly off the bench; she has started five of the last eight 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.
›› 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 3rd in the SEC and 14th 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 9.3 points and a team-best 5.3 rebounds. Her 16-point, 9-rebound performance led the Tigers to a win over No. 21 Alabama Jan. 15. 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.
›› 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.
›› 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. Daniels helped seal the win over No. 21 Alabama in the final seconds, taking a charge to give Auburn the ball back with a two-point lead.
›› Freshman Sania Richardson had the best game of her young career with 12 points in the win over Jackson State. She averages 3.8 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.
TAKING DOWN THE TIDE
›› Auburn picked up its first top-25 win of the Larry Vickers era Jan. 15 with a 58-54 win over archrival Alabama, who was ranked No. 21 at the time. Khady Leye led the way with 16 points and 9 rebounds for the Tigers as they held Alabama to a season-low in scoring.
›› It was the second straight home win over Alabama for the Tigers with the last coming in the 2024 season; the teams did not meet in Auburn last year.
›› The win was also Auburn’s first against a ranked opponent since defeating No. 7 LSU on Jan. 14, 2024, one week before their last win over the Crimson Tide.
UP NEXT
›› Auburn is home for its next two games, beginning Sunday when the Tigers host No. 16 Oklahoma. Game time is 1 p.m. CT at Neville Arena; it’s Girl Scout Day and National Girls & Women in Sports Day.