The Auburn women’s basketball team heads to Greenville, South Carolina, on Thursday to face the Georgia Bulldogs in the second round of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers, who lost to the Lady Bulldogs in Athens, Georgia, are looking to make a run in the SEC Tournament.
“We have an opportunity to go to the postseason,” said head coach Johnnie Harris. “We’re going to take that, and we’re going to use it to grow. We’re gonna be there.”
The Tigers are coming off a close win against the Vanderbilt Commodores at home – a win that secured their first winning season since 2019. Auburn senior Honesty Scott-Grayson led the Tigers to victory with her 15 points, six assists and five steals.
The Lady Bulldogs are entering Thursday’s matchup after a 73-63 loss to the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks. Guard Diamond Battle led the Bulldogs in scoring, shooting 37.5% from the field and scoring 20 points.
Auburn and Georgia are pretty evenly matched. The Lady Bulldogs are averaging 67.3 points per game, and the Tigers are trailing close behind, averaging 66.6 points per game. Georgia is shooting 70.3% from the free-throw line, while Auburn is shooting 67.5%.
“To win against Georgia, we have to make free throws,” Harris said. “We have to make better decisions down the stretch, take care of the ball and then we have to rebound. I didn’t think we rebounded well there.”
In their previous matchup, Auburn was outrebounded by Georgia 40-27. Auburn shot 9-of-15 from the line, compared to Georgia’s 23-of-28. For the Tigers to win, they will need to close the rebound and free-throw gap from their previous performance against the Lady Bulldogs.
Georgia’s Battle and Alisha Lewis will play a key role for the Lady Bulldogs. Battle leads Georgia in scoring, averaging 14.4 points per contest. She also averages 3.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Lewis is the Lady Bulldogs’ best shooter — shooting 34.6% from the three-point line and leading Georgia in made threes per game (1.1).
For Auburn, Aicha Coulibaly and Scott-Grayson will act as dynamic contributors for the team. Coulibaly leads the team in points, rebounds and assists per game. In the Tigers’ loss to the Lady Bulldogs, Coulibaly led the Tigers with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Scott-Grayson will be the difference maker for Auburn beyond the arc. Scott-Grayson shoots 38.1% from three and averages 1.6 made threes per game.
Both teams look to keep their postseason dreams as alive as the Tigers aim to outscore the Lady Bulldogs in Thursday's rematch, while the Lady Bulldogs look to lock in defensively against the Tigers.
The SEC Tournament matchup between Georgia and Auburn will tip off Thursday at 5 p.m. CST and will be televised on the SEC Network.
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Grace Heim is a junior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in English Literature. She started with The Plainsman in January 2023.
