For its second game in a row, Auburn women’s basketball team faces a Tiger opponent. This time, it's the LSU Tigers.
On Thursday night, it was the Missouri Tigers, who were able to sneak past Auburn in overtime by a score of 72-63. Consequently, it fell to 8-5 on the campaign and remains winless in SEC play.
The loss extends Auburn’s losing streak in conference play to 18 games, although it's been on the verge of ending the streak in back-to-back games.
Both SEC contests have been within reach for Auburn so far this season. The team dropped its league opener to Alabama by three points. In its last game, Auburn held a seven-point lead early in the third quarter. After Missouri creeped back to take a late lead, No. 2 Sania Wells hit a jumper to send the game to overtime.
Missouri came out with a vengeance in OT. It started off on a 5-0 run and never looked back as it overwhelmed Auburn 13-4 post-regulation.
Harris’ team has been able to smell victory, but it has come up just short in the SEC. The Tigers drool and their stomach's rumble as they have come within grasp of their first conference win in two seasons, but the team has unfortunately left both games hungry.
Auburn hopes to get back in the win column on Sunday afternoon. Once again, it faces no easy task in 14-2 LSU.
The Tigers in purple and yellow are ranked No. 13 in the nation. They are on the prowl for revenge, as they also suffered a hard-fought loss on Thursday night in a matchup with top-ranked South Carolina. The 66-60 loss put their 13-game win streak that began the second game of the season on Nov. 14 to an end.
LSU features an electric offense that ranks third in the SEC in scoring at 75.7 points per game, which is only a slight improvement from Missouri, which averages 74 points a game.
LSU has exploded on several occasions in 100-point and 96-point performances this season. The team shoots the ball efficiently as it also stands at third in the conference in shooting percentage at 46.3%.
A major key to LSU’s offensive success is senior guard Khayla Pointer. She sits at fifth in the SEC at 17.4 points per game and third in the conference in assists with 5.2 per match. She is coming off an impressive performance against top dog South Carolina in which she tallied 22 points, six assists and three rebounds.
Auburn, on the other hand, has the SEC’s third leading scorer in Aicha Coulibaly. The sophomore guard has reached double figures in scoring in every game except for Alabama State this season, when she fell just one short of the mark with nine points.
Coulibaly is not the only one doing the scoring for the Tigers. The team had three different players score 15 or more points against Missouri. In fact, Wells was the leading scorer for Auburn in the contest. She recorded her career-high in points with 20. Honesty Scott-Grayson also pitched in 15 points.
Auburn starters have been asked to do all the work so far in conference play as it has gotten a combined five points off the bench in two games. Part of this is due to Jala Jordan leaving the game against Missouri in the second quarter.
Coach Harris said after the game that she expects Jordan to be able to play against LSU on Sunday. The Tigers need the 52.9% shooter to return to her previous form after only scoring two points in conference play thus far on 13 field goal attempts.
Jordan was converted to a starter against Alabama, and the junior struggled in that role as she went 1-of-8 from the floor for two points. Harris put her back on the bench to start against Missouri, a role that she has thrived in earlier this season as she is Auburn’s leading scorer off the bench. The junior averages 9.9 points per game in an average of 15.4 minutes on the court.
Auburn’s defense has struggled this year to defend its opponents without fouling. It sent Alabama to the free throw line 29 times, and Missouri shot from the stripe 19 times. However, LSU is shooting a lackluster 61.1% from the free throw line. This is something Auburn could take advantage of against a talented offense that has few weaknesses.
An area where LSU holds an obvious advantage is in rebounding. It is third in the SEC, hauling in 43.4 rebounds each game compared to Auburn’s 39.9. Rebounding, particularly on the offensive glass, is key for two offenses that do the majority of their scoring inside.
Neither team shoots from 3-point range at a high frequency. Auburn only has 170 3-point attempts, only Ole Miss has less in the SEC. LSU is similar to Auburn in that category, with 178 attempts from beyond the arch.
The teams both rank around the middle of the pack when they do put it up from long range. LSU ranks seventh and Auburn 10th in 3-point percentage, respectively. Both teams make their money by creating shots inside and drawing fouls.
Auburn looks to repeat its performance from two seasons ago, where it downed LSU in Auburn Arena 65-60. LSU holds bragging rights from last season, but Auburn hopes to steal them right back and avoid losing to the SEC West rival in consecutive seasons.
The matchup of the Tigers tips off on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. CST on SEC Network, in Auburn Arena.
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