AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn’s women’s basketball team will play their second consecutive home game on Sunday afternoon, when the Tigers host Missouri at Auburn Arena. The game time is noon CT with a national broadcast on the SEC Network.
Sunday’s game was originally scheduled for January 10, but was postponed due to health and safety protocols. Fans with tickets for the original game date can use them for Sunday’s game or exchange them for any remaining women’s basketball games this season.
Tickets are available at AuburnTigers.com and at the arena box office; all tickets cost $ 6 and are valid for general admission seats at level 100 of the arena. All persons inside Auburn Arena must wear a facial cover at all times, sit in designated seats and maintain adequate social distance. Visit the Women’s Basketball Gameday page at AuburnTigers.com for more information.
UP IN THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call starting at 11:45 am CT on WQSI 93.9 FM. The game can be heard online at AuburnTigers.com and the official Auburn Athletics app.
›› SEC Network will have a national live broadcast with Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty drawing attention.
LAST TIME OUT
›› Auburn overtook the best-ranked team in the country in the second half, but a difficult first quarter was too much to overcome, as the Tigers dropped to 2nd place in South Carolina by 77-58 on Thursday night at Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers were unable to make much of it fall in the first 15 minutes or so, as South Carolina took advantage of Auburn’s failures and built a big lead in the beginning. But Auburn followed his worst half of shots in the SEC game (19.4%) with his best (53.3%), beating Gamecocks by 10 after the break.
›› Scott-Grayson Honesty led Auburn with 15 points and also managed four rebounds. Thompson unique added 10 points and eight rebounds along with three steals that lead the team. AND Romi Levy it was 3 out of 5 in the 3-point interval for a nine-point effort; she also had five rebounds and led Auburn with three assists. Alaina Rice added eight points.
›› In the disastrous first 14 minutes, Auburn made just two of the first 28 shots, while Gamecocks – who were 14 out of 22 (63.6%) on the same stretch – led by more than 30 in the middle of the second quarter. But as of 6 am in the second half, the Tigers hit 21 of 38 shots (55.3%).
AN AUBURN WINNING WOULD BE …
›› Be Auburn’s third consecutive victory over Missouri.
›› Improve Auburn’s record to 14-13 on Super Bowl Sunday.
LAST MEETING: February 27, 2020 in Columbia, Mo.
Auburn 95, Missouri 82
›› Thompson unique set the career record at Auburn with his 41st double-double, three players finished with more than 20 points, and Auburn got his first SEC win of the season with a 95-82 win in Missouri.
›› Auburn used a scorching third quarter, hitting his first 10 shots of the period, to reach the advantage of up to 18 points, and Missouri would come no closer than seven points the rest of the way. The Tigers’ 34 points in the third quarter were a school record for a single period, and Auburn’s 95 points in the night were the highest in an SEC game since 1990.
›› Thompson finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds to obtain his 21st double-double of the season and the 41st of his career, overtaking DeWanna Bonner in the all-time leadership of Auburn. Lauretta Freeman holds the mark of a single season at 23.
›› Daisa Alexander it was 7 of 9 off the ground for 21 points and six assists. As a team, Auburn hit 59 percent of the season’s record (35-59) and hit 9 out of 23 points out of 3 (39.1%). The Tigers forced Mizzou to 20 turns, converting them to 28 points, the best of the season. Auburn also overcame Missouri 35-25.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
›› Missouri is 6-7 overall, 2-6 in the SEC game. The Tigers have SEC wins over Florida and Ole Miss this season.
›› Tigers average 74.2 points / game, while dropping 66.8 / game. Mizzou is the SEC’s best shooting team with 49.3% of the vote this year.
›› Aijha Blackwell is Missouri’s highest scorer (14.3 ppg) and rebound (11.3 rpg); she is one of five SEC players with a double-double average (along with Auburn’s Thompson unique)
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 11 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 most active players in the country 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 four of the five games since then, including 18 points and 19 rebounds in Arkansas.
›› Two second-year redshirt transfers that missed out last season are the Tigers’ second and third top scorers. Scott-Grayson Honesty (Baylor) started all 17 games, averaging 12.9 points / game, and had a career record of 23 points at Ole Miss. She averages 15.0 points at stake at the SEC. Jordan is Auburn’s third highest scorer with 7.7 points / game; she is also the Tigers’ main kick blocker (0.7 / game).
>> Freshman Romi Levy and second year Alaina Rice managed to enter the starting team, together with the juniors Keya Patton. Levy averages 6.1 points and 4.4 rebounds; 6.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in SEC play. She had 12 rebounds in Arkansas. Rice averages 6.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in SEC games, and Patton averages 6.7 points in league games.
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY NOTES
›› Auburn is 13 to 13 years old on Super Bowl Sunday and has won his last two competitions on big game day. 2021 will mark the third consecutive year that Auburn played at home on Super Sunday, after playing away for seven consecutive years. Tigers are 7-1 at home and 6-12 on the road.
›› This is the first time that Auburn will face Missouri on the Super Sunday. It is also the first time that Auburn will face a team from the same state as one of the teams participating in the Super Bowl (Kansas City).
›› Tigers win 1-0 when Kansas City is playing in the Super Bowl (2020: Auburn beat Vanderbilt, 70-62; Kansas City beat San Francisco, 31-20). Auburn is also 1-0 when Tampa Bay is playing in the Super Bowl (2003: Auburn beat Arkansas, 64-36; Tampa Bay beat Oakland, 48-21).
›› Auburn is 1-1 when the Super Bowl is played in Tampa – 2001 (Auburn lost in Arkansas, 77-68; Baltimore won the NY Giants, 34-7); 2009 (Auburn def. LSU, 66-55; Pittsburgh def. Arizona, 27-23).
›› The NFC teams have a 7-6 advantage when Auburn wins their game that day, and the AFC teams have an 8-5 advantage when Auburn falls short.
NEXT
›› Auburn travels to Georgia on Thursday, 11 February. The game is at 6 pm CT at the Stegeman Coliseum.