Auburn, Ala.— The Auburn women’s basketball team is set to face No. 3 South Carolina on Thursday night at Neville Arena, marking the fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent for the Tigers. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT, with doors opening at 7 p.m.
The event will feature Jersey Night, encouraging fans to wear their favorite sports jerseys and offering a chance to win a Nike basketball jersey.
Auburn holds a 13-8 record overall and is 2-5 in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play. This game continues a challenging stretch where Auburn faces five straight ranked teams, having recently competed against No. 21 Alabama, No. 5 Vanderbilt, and No. 16 Oklahoma. Their next matchup will be against No. 17 Ole Miss in Oxford on Monday; that game was postponed by one day due to winter weather conditions in north Mississippi.
South Carolina enters the contest with a 20-2 overall record and stands at 6-1 in SEC play. The Gamecocks experienced their first conference loss last Thursday at Oklahoma but rebounded with a decisive 103-74 home victory over No. 5 Vanderbilt on Sunday.
Tickets can be purchased in advance through AUBTix.com or via the Auburn Athletics app, as well as at the arena ticket office on game day.
Broadcast coverage will include Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara providing radio commentary on ESPN 106.7 FM starting at 7:45 p.m. CT; streaming options are available through AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app. Television coverage will be provided by SEC Network with Sam Gore and Carolyn Peck calling the action.
Reflecting on their last outing, Auburn’s A’riel Jackson achieved a career-high of 19 points as the team rallied from a ten-point second-half deficit before ultimately losing to No. 16 Oklahoma, 72-65, at Neville Arena this past Sunday. Harris and Mya Petticord contributed twelve points each while Harissoum Coulibaly added ten points without committing any turnovers during her time on court.
Discussing possible outcomes of Thursday’s match-up:
“A win would give the Tigers a second top-25 win this season,” according to team sources.
It would also improve Auburn’s home record to ten wins out of thirteen games this season and end a sixteen-game losing streak against South Carolina.
Historically, Auburn has won twenty-one out of fifty-two meetings between these two teams but has not secured a victory since 2013.
In their most recent encounter last February in Columbia, South Carolina defeated Auburn by a score of eighty-three to sixty-six despite DeYona Gaston scoring more than thirty points for her fourth time that season.
South Carolina leads nationally with its offensive statistics—ranking fourth in scoring offense with an average of eighty-nine points per game—and maintains top-ten rankings in field goal percentage (51.1%), blocks per game (6.4), three-point percentage (37.4%), and defensive field goal percentage (33.9%). Joyce Edwards averages twenty points per game for South Carolina while Raven Johnson stands out among point guards nationally with over five assists per contest and an assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks fourth nationwide.
On the Auburn side:
Freshman Harissoum Coulibaly leads her team with an average of eleven point one points per game; she was named SEC Freshman of the Week in December after standout performances against MTSU and Alcorn State.
Redshirt junior Kaitlyn Duhon averages just under ten points per game while ranking among national leaders in steals.
Sophomore Khady Leye contributes both scoring (eight point nine PPG) and rebounding (team-best five point one RPG).
Senior Mya Petticord has made key plays including hitting late-game shots.
Additional contributors include Ja’Mia Harris—who has reached double figures multiple times this season—A’riel Jackson off the bench averaging nearly fifteen points across recent contests, sophomore Syriah Daniels making defensive impacts late in games, freshman Sania Richardson emerging as an outside shooting threat, redshirt freshman Arek Angui securing her first double-double earlier this year, senior guard Angena Belloso joining from FIU after transferring during offseason moves.
Defensively,
“Twenty of twenty-one opponents on Auburn’s schedule have been held below their season scoring average,” according to coaching staff.
Three teams—including two within conference play—have recorded season-low scores when facing Auburn’s defense.
On average opponents are scoring just over ten fewer points than usual when playing against them; SEC teams specifically are averaging about nine fewer compared to other matches.
Looking ahead,
Auburn travels next week for two road games starting Monday versus Ole Miss—a fixture rescheduled because of inclement weather—with another home contest slated for Sunday against No. 6 LSU.
