Auburn women's basketball looks to pick up big SEC wins this week with the end of the season nearing. Auburn split last week's matchups, defeating Kentucky at home and then losing on the road to Alabama as the Tigers prepare for a series of rematches against LSU and Texas A&M.
The Tigers are set to continue the road trip to Baton Rogue to square off against No. 13 LSU in their second meeting of the year. Auburn gave LSU its first conference loss of the season in January 67-62.
Auburn will then return home for another rematch against Texas A&M. In Auburn’s first conference road game, the Aggies defeated Auburn 66-44. According to ESPN's Bracketology, this matchup features two teams on the bubble, with the two squads listed under the last four to make the tournament.
Prior to these games, Auburn took care of business against Kentucky on Thursday 78-50. A few days later, the Tigers took a trip to Alabama on Sunday, where they held a 52-42 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. This lead did not hold as Alabama outscored the Tigers 25-9 in the fourth quarter to steal a victory from the Tigers.
The LSU Tigers visited the Texas A&M Aggies in both team's most recent contests, with LSU handling business 81-58.
Texas A&M will host Arkansas on Thursday before its trip to Neville Arena.
Players to Watch
Auburn: JaMya Mingo-Young
While the excellence of Honest Scott-Grayson has been the talking point of Auburn women’s basketball with her prolific scoring, Mingo-Young has been flying under the radar as a multi-talented guard.
Auburn's second-leading scorer has had a stretch of three games in double-digit scoring figures with one double-double, averaging 11.3 points per game, 7.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game in that time frame.
The Tigers and Scott-Grayson will need to continue to receive help from the surrounding cast and look to their second option, Mingo-Young, to get it done on both ends of the floor.
LSU: Aneesah Morrow
Like Auburn, the spotlight gravitates toward the Bayou Bengals' best player, Angel Reese, but Morrow's accomplishments this season shouldn't be overshadowed. Morrow has been a double-double machine, recording 15 in her last 20 games while averaging 17.6 points per game and 10.1 rebounds.
In the loss to Auburn earlier in the season, Morrow recorded 12 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 54.5% from the field. With the season winding down, LSU will look to finish the season strong and will need more two-way action from Morrow.
Texas A&M: Aicha Coulibaly
The former Auburn Tiger returns to Neville Arena, dawning the white and maroon. Coulibaly spent three seasons at Auburn, and in 2022-23 earned All-SEC second team honors.
The Aggies’ second-leading scorer is part of a balanced attack with four players averaging double-digit points. While scoring the lowest points per game since her freshman year at Auburn (12.6), Coulibaly shoots a career-high 51.4 field-goal percentage.
In the previous contest against Auburn, she scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. She must continue contributing efficient scoring to help her team push for the postseason.
Auburn will look to get back on track against LSU on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. CST on SEC Network. Then, the Tigers will return home to face the Aggies on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m. CST on SEC Network+.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Craig Noyes is a junior from Kensington, Maryland, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in January 2023.
Twitter: @craignoyes58
