AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn’s women’s basketball team faces its third team in the top 25 in the last four matches on Sunday afternoon, when the Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to face Arkansas. The game time is set to 14:00 CT at Bud Walton Arena.
The Tigers are coming out of an 84-69 loss to Texas A&M’s eighth place on Thursday, which saw the veterans Thompson unique passes to second place of all time at Auburn in career rebounds. Meanwhile, Arkansas gave No. 3 UConn their first loss of the season on Thursday, with a 90-87 home win.
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UP IN THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call starting at 13:45 CT on WQSI 93.9 FM and online at AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics app.
›› The game can be viewed on SEC Network + with Brett Dolan and Matt Zimmerman on the link. SEC Network + is available at WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn scored 21 points in Scott-Grayson Honesty and 18 of Thompson unique, but Texas A&M’s No. 8 faded in the second half when the Tigers fell 84-69 on Thursday night at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers kept Aggies in their sights for more than three-quarters and had one of their best shot nights at the SEC, but A&M hit 69 percent in the second half and 83 percent in the fourth quarter to distance themselves in the final minutes. .
›› During the night, Auburn scored 41.3 percent (26-63) and scored 10 points out of 3, his best SEC game. But Texas A&M reached 51.7% (31-60), including 67% from the second quarter. The Aggies also made the majority of 18 trips to the free-throw line, dropping 14; Auburn went from 7 to 8.
›› Scott-Grayson surpassed the 20-point mark for the second time in SEC play; she had a career record 23 at Ole Miss. She and Thompson shared Auburn’s leadership with three robberies each. Thompson saw his streak of ten consecutive doubles come to an end, but led the Tigers with seven rebounds. She also made her first 3-point career at the end of the fourth period for the final points of the night at Auburn.
AN AUBURN WINNING WOULD BE …
›› Be the Tigers’ third consecutive win at Fayetteville.
›› Be Auburn’s victory with the best ranking since the then-No defeat. 16 Florida 80-58 on February 14, 2016.
AUBURN-ARKANSAS SERIES
›› Auburn has 23-17 of all time against Arkansas, including a 10-8 lead at Fayetteville. The Tigers have won their last two games on the road against the Razorbacks.
LAST MEETING: March 5, 2020, in Greenville, SC
No. 25 Arkansas 90, Auburn 68
›› Thompson unique got his 22nd double-double of the season, but Arkansas’s 3-point pitches were awesome, as the Tigers dropped 90-68 in the second round of the SEC 2020 Tournament.
›› Auburn (11-18) saw four players score double digits and had more rebounds than Arkansas (23-7), but the Tigers were unable to slow the SEC’s highest scoring team when the Razorbacks led the 90 points to score by 11th this season.
›› Kiyae ‘White led Auburn with 15 points, the best of his career, hitting 7 of 9 attempts on the ground. She also managed eight rebounds and had the best team quality in four assists. Daisa Alexander scored 12 points in his last game at Auburn. Thompson’s 12-point, 15-rebound night was his 22nd double-double of the season, the second biggest in the country this year and the 42nd of his career. She also added three assists and a steal.
›› Arkansas hit 17 of 42 attempts for 3 points in the night, a SEC Tournament record, and hit 47.8 percent (32 of 67) overall. The Tigers scored 42.4 percent (28 of 66), but were only 6 of 26 in the 3-point range (23.1%). A day after forcing Vanderbilt to 25 goals, the Tigers were about to get eight from Arkansas, making them 10 points. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks scored 24 points in chances to counterattack. Auburn hit Arkansas, 38-36.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS
›› Arkansas has 12-6 overall, 2-5 in the SEC game, but with two top 5 wins over Baylor and UConn. Razorbacks are ranked 19th in the AP vote and 18th by coaches.
›› Razorbacks is the team with the highest SEC score, averaging 85.7 points / game and giving up 75.1. They also reach 38.4% of the 3-point range, the highest mark of the SEC, and have an average of 10.3 spins / game, the second lowest in the country.
›› Chelsea Dungee is the SEC’s top scorer with 22.5 points / game; she also made more free throws (112) than anyone else in the country.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior striker Thompson unique leads the SEC and is the second nationally with 13.6 rebounds per game this year and leads Auburn with 17.8 points / game. She has 10 doubles in the season, which ranks second in the SEC and fifth nationally. Thompson achieved her 1000th career rebound against Belmont on December 20 and is one of the two nationally active players with over a thousand career rebounds.
›› Thompson was not available in the first three SEC games due to medical problems, but returned to Florida on January 17 and has recorded doubles in three of the four games since then, including 22 points and 10 rebounds against Kentucky.
›› Two second-year redshirt transfers that missed out last season are the Tigers’ second and third top scorers. Scott-Grayson Honesty (Baylor) started all 14 games, averaging 12.3 points / game, and had a career record of 23 points at Ole Miss, 21 against Texas A&M, 18 points against Belmont & Florida and 17 points in Alabama. Jordan is Auburn’s third highest scorer with 7.7 points / game; she is also the Tigers’ main kick blocker (0.8 / game).
NEXT
›› Auburn returns home for his third straight game against an opponent in the top 25 when he received South Carolina’s No. 4 at 6 pm CT on Thursday.