Auburn women’s basketball returns to Neville Arena to play against Kentucky after splitting a two-game road trip as the Tigers continue to try to build a resume for the NCAA Tournament.
The Auburn Tigers enter this contest after defeating the Missouri Tigers 70-59, powered by 24 points from Honesty Scott-Grayson and a double-double JaMya Mingo Young, improving their record to 15-8 and 4-6 in SEC play in a much-needed win to keep their tournament hopes. This game will be Auburn’s first home game in two weeks.
According to ESPN’s bracketology, Auburn is on the right side of the bubble, being one of the last four teams in – making the Tigers a projected 11 seed and giving them potentially their first visit to the tournament since the 2018-19 season.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Wildcats have suffered five straight losses with only two conference wins and have the fewest overall wins (9-15) of any team in the SEC. Their most recent game was a 61-44 loss to Texas A&M.
Auburn defeated Kentucky 71-68 last season, which snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Wildcats, but wins have been hard to come by in this matchup for Auburn. In its last 20 games, Auburn has gone 4-16 and has not recorded back-to-back wins against Kentucky since 2004-06.
Players to Watch
Auburn: Honesty Scott-Grayson
Scott-Grayson has been on a tear offensively, scoring 103 points in her last four games while shooting 39% on three-point attempts. The team-leading scorer is averaging a career-best 17.7 points per game, putting her fifth in the conference in scoring overall.
She has also shown impressive defensive capability, with 1.75 steals per game in the same time frame. The Tigers will look to rely on their star on both ends of the floor to continue to make a push toward the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky: Ajae Petty
The senior has seen impressive jumps across the board and has quickly become the star of the Wildcats, leading the team in points, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage. In her second season at Kentucky after being at LSU for two seasons, she has seen her points per game go from 5.7 to 14.6 and rebounds from 4.7 to 10.5.
Petty has thrust herself into the star role for Kentucky and will need to continue to dominate on both ends of the floor to help Kentucky snap its five-game skid.
With a win on Thursday, the Tigers can match their previous season's win total with six games remaining. Auburn went 16-15 and 5-11 in conference play in the 2022-23 season. Currently sitting at 15-8 and 4-6 in conference play, Auburn can also reach 20 wins for the first since 2018-19 with a strong end to the season. A win over Kentucky would also tie third-year head coach Johnnie Harris’s most conference wins at Auburn.
Auburn returns home for one game before going on another two-game road trip and looks to pick up the much-needed win. Tipoff in Neville Arena against the Kentucky Wildcats will be at 6 p.m. CST, and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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Craig Noyes is a junior from Kensington, Maryland, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in January 2023.
Twitter: @craignoyes58
