Last season, Auburn traveled to Atlanta as heavy underdogs against No. 18 Georgia Tech. That afternoon, the Tigers stunned the Yellow Jackets - building a lead as large as 22 points and holding on for a 59-51 win in the first of Auburn’s three ranked wins.
On Wednesday night, the Tigers and Yellow Jackets will meet again at Neville Arena as Nell Fortner makes her return to the Plains. Fortner, now in her fourth season as Georgia Tech’s head coach, spent eight seasons as Auburn’s head coach from 2004-12.
Recently, home court has been advantageous for Auburn against non-conference foes. In head coach Johnnie Harris’s tenure, the Tigers are 8-1 in non-conference games at Neville Arena and have eight consecutive wins in such contests.
Both teams enter the contest at 2-0 after one week of play. Auburn defeated Sam Houston and South Alabama during the opening week, while Georgia Tech earned lopsided wins over in-state foes Georgia State and Kennesaw State.
Aicha Coulibaly, Auburn’s leading returning scorer, has picked up where she left off last season. Coulibaly led the Tigers in scoring in both games last week, scoring 24 in the opener against Sam Houston before a 19-point performance against South Alabama.
Freshman Kaitlyn Duhon, in an average of 27 minutes a game last week, averaged 13 points per game. Duhon stepped up when needed on Thursday when, with three players out with illness, she scored 17 in the win over the Jaguars.
Honesty Scott-Grayson, who averaged nine points per game during opening week, was a key performer in Auburn’s victory over the Yellow Jackets last season. In the Tigers’ upset win in Atlanta last November, Scott-Grayson scored 18 points and played for 40 minutes - the complete game.
Georgia Tech, though the season is young, has the makings of a staunch defensive team. The Yellow Jackets rank sixth in the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 40.5 points per game.
Auburn will counter with an offense that averages 80.5 points per game. The Tigers have attempted 51 free throws, making 41 - a rate of over 80%. Coulibaly leads the team in free throws attempted and made, shooting 12-for-14 at the free-throw line.
Cameron Swartz, a graduate transfer from Boston College, led Georgia Tech in scoring in each of its first two games, scoring 19 against Georgia State and 14 against Kennesaw State. Nerea Hermosa, who had 11 points and nine rebounds against the Tigers last season, has scored six points in both games this season and averages seven rebounds per game.
Auburn and Georgia Tech have met four times, with the Tigers winning each previous matchup. Georgia Tech earned a No. 9 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round to Kansas. The Yellow Jackets are the first of 11 separate NCAA Tournament teams from 2022 on Auburn’s schedule this season.
Tip-off for Wednesday’s contest between the Tigers and Yellow Jackets will be at 7 p.m. CST and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
