AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn’s women’s basketball team will end the 2020-21 regular season on Sunday afternoon in Knoxville, Tennessee, while the Tigers face 20th-placed Tennessee Lady Volunteers. The game time at Thompson-Boling Arena is at 13:00 CT.
UP IN THE AIR
›› Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call starting at 12:45 pm CT at WQSI 93.9 FM in Auburn. Fans can listen online at AuburnTigers.com or through the official Auburn Athletics mobile app.
›› The game can be seen on the SEC Network with Sam Gore and Tamika Catchings drawing attention.
LAST TIME
›› It was an unforgettable old age night at Auburn’s Thompson unique, who scored 22 points and had 18 rebounds, but the Tigers let the advantage of the fourth period slip away with a 74-69 loss to Arkansas No. 16 on Thursday night at the Auburn Arena.
›› The Tigers lost 10 points in the second quarter, fell to a 10 point advantage in the third period and were still ahead with less than five minutes left. But the Razorbacks found their shot in the final minutes, and Auburn was unable to keep pace in the final stretch.
›› Thompson’s bid of 22 points and 18 rebounds was his 15th double-double of the season. It was also the 57th of her career, which led to a tie for the eighth place of all time in the history of the Southeastern Conference, alongside the big names of SEC Chamique Holdsclaw (Tennessee), Armintie Price (Ole Miss) and Alaina Coates (South Carolina).
›› She got help on the offensive side when three other Tigers hit double digits. Scott-Grayson Honesty had 18 points and six rebounds, in addition to three blocks, the best of his career. Sania Wells dropped 12 points, his career record, dropping a pair of 3 points, and Aicha Coulibaly scored 10 points and pulled four rebounds. Alaina Rice also had a seven point night and six rebounds and led the Tigers with a couple of steals.
›› Tigers dominated the boards, overtaking Arkansas by 47-29. For much of the game, Auburn was also better than the SEC’s highest-scoring team, but a large fourth period for the Razorbacks gave them the advantage, 41.4% to 40.0%. Arkansas also dropped 10 points out of 3, five of them in the fourth period.
AN AUBURN WINNING WOULD BE …
›› Be the first of the Tigers over Tennessee in Knoxville since 1988.
›› Throw a five-game skid against Lady Vols.
AUBURN-TENNESSEE SERIES
›› Auburn is 11-46 at all times against Tennessee, including a 2-22 mark in Knoxville. The Tigers lost five consecutive wins to the Lady Vols, including a 56-55 heartbreaking defeat at Auburn last year.
LAST MEETING: March 1, 2020, in Auburn
Tennessee 56, Auburn 55
›› Auburn made one of his best defensive efforts of the season, but the Tigers lost one point against Tennessee, in the 56-55 defeat at Auburn Arena.
›› A wild streak unfolded in the final three seconds. With Tennessee winning 54-51 and with just two team fouls, the Lady Vols were trying to make a foul at Auburn to avoid a potential 3-point draw. But senior Daisa Alexander missed when shooting a 3 with 3.4 seconds remaining. She hit three free throws to tie the game at 54, and Tennessee asked for a timeout to advance the ball.
›› Lady Vols freshman Jordan Horston drove to the track and placed a float on the free-throw line that fell to give UT a 56-54 lead with 0.6 remaining. After Auburn asked for his final time limit to advance to the frontcourt, Tennessee missed Alexander before the ball entered, giving Auburn a chance to tie. She did the first, but the second just rolled off the edge, and time expired to give Tennessee a one point win.
›› Kicks did not fall for Auburn, as the Tigers hit 28.8 percent (17 of 59) of the field and 4 of 22 (18.2%) of the 3-point range. The Tigers continued to play with their free-throw shots, however, hitting 17 of 23. Tennessee had 43.1 percent (22-of-51) of the field and Auburn surpassed in 50-26.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE
›› Tennessee is 14-6 overall, 8-4 in the SEC. Lady Vols are currently third in the SEC ranking.
›› The Lady Vols averages 71.9 points / game and keeps opponents exactly 10 less than 61.9. UT is the SEC’s second best rebound team with 46.0 / game and out-rebound opponents averaging 13.2 / game.
›› Rae Burrell is UT’s top scorer with 17.3 points / game; Rennia Davis has an average of 16.5 points and 8.6 rebounds.
›› Tennessee’s head coach, Kellie Harper, was a technical assistant at Auburn from 1999-2001. Her husband, UT assistant coach Jon Harper, graduated in 1999 from Auburn and was a women’s basketball manager and training player.
SCOUTING AUBURN
›› Senior striker Thompson unique leads the SEC and is the third in the country with 13.3 rebounds per game this year, and she leads Auburn with 18.2 points / game. She has 15 pairs in the season, who leads the SEC and is the fourth nationally. Thompson achieved her 1000th career rebound against Belmont on December 20 and is one of the two nationally active players with more than 1,000 career rebounds.
›› She set the career record for Auburn in rebounds with her 1,119 on February 23 in Mississippi. Becky Jackson’s previous 1,118 record has remained since 1984.
›› Thompson was not available for the first three SEC games due to medical problems, but returned to Florida on January 17 and recorded doubles in eight of the 11 games since then.
›› Second year redshirt Scott-Grayson Honesty, a transfer from Baylor that missed 2019-20, started all 22 games, averaging 14.9 points / game. She had her career record of 30 points against Missouri, added 25 against Alabama and surpassed the 20-point mark five times. In the SEC game, Scott-Grayson averages 17.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists per game.
>> Freshman Romi Levy and second year Alaina Rice managed to enter the starting lineup. Levy has an average of 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds; she had 12 rebounds in Arkansas. Rice has an average of 5.4 points and a team leader of 2.3 assists in the SEC game, including a career record of 9 assists against Alabama.
NEXT
›› Auburn will face Ole Miss or Florida in the first round of the 2021 SEC tournament. Game time is at 3 pm CT Wednesday, March 3, in Greenville, SC