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Kentucky Wildcats at Auburn Tigers: Women's Basketball Game Preview and Live Game Thread

Kentucky hits the road in the SEC today as they challenge the Auburn Tigers in Auburn, Alabama at 2:00 EST.

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky hoops travels down to the Plains of Auburn to take on the Tigers today at 2:00 pm Eastern time. After recovering from back-to-back defeats versus Florida and at #8 South Carolina by defeating Missouri in Memorial Coliseum, the Wildcats look to continue their newly founded winning streak of one game at Auburn.

About Auburn

  • Conference — Southeastern
  • Head Coach — Terri Williams-Flournoy (since 2012)
  • Head Coach's Record at Auburn — 30-21 (.588)
  • Arena (Capacity) — Beard-Eaves Memorial Gym (10,500)
  • NCAA Appearances — 18
  • NCAA Record — 29-18 (.617)
  • Most Recent NCAA Appearance — 2009
  • Most Recent NCAA Win — 2009
  • Record last season — 19-15 (5-11)
  • Record this season — 11-6 (2-2)

Courtesy of Women's Basketball State

Auburn players

Roster

# Name Status Pos Height Class Hometown Games PPG RPG APG
32 Tanner, Tyrese S G/F 6-1 Sr. Birmingham, AL 16 10.9 5.9 0.8
44 Tanner, Tra'Cee S F/C 6-3 So. Birmingham, AL 17 15.2 6.7 2.3
00 Muhammad, Hasina S G 6-1 Jr. Memphis, TN 12 12.3 5.4 2.1
1 Tucker, Meagan S G 5-8 Fr. Covington, GA 7 3.7 0.7 1.7
10 Montgomery, Brandy S G 5-10 Fr. Port St. Lucie, FL 16 11.2 3.5 1.6
3 Starr, Allina MR G 5-10 Fr. Minneapolis, MN 14 1.4 1.8 3.2
13 Frerking, Katie MR G/F 6-1 Fr. Johns Creek, GA 17 5.5 2.2 1.1
22 Parker, Kiani MR G 5-9 Jr. Fort Walton Beach, FL 17 2.9 2.2 3.3
34 Davis, Peyton MR C 6-5 Sr. Pinson, AL 17 7.8 5.1 0.2
35 Capers, Cabriana MR F 6-1 So. Bolingbrook, IL 17 1.5 3.3 0.6
12 Farmer, Keonna R G/F 6-1 Fr. Birmingham, AL 7 0.9 0.9 0
21 Brimfield, Melinda R F 6-0 Jr. Norway, SC 12 0.6 1 0.1
40 Dieng, Khady R G 5-10 Fr. Dakar, 13 1.7 1.4 0.5












Legend








S Starter








MR Major reserve








R Reserve








Courtesy of Women's Basketball State

Player comments

  • Tra'Cee Tanner is the leading scorer and rebounder on Auburn's team, and her size makes her a formidable force on the inside.

  • Tyrese is the older of the Tanner sisters, and 2 inches shorter. She is the most efficient scorer among the starters, and the best 3-point shooter.

  • Hasina Muhammad is a good passer, sporting the best assist/turnover ratio among the starters.

Season so far

Auburn has quality wins against top 50 St. Johns, but is 1-5 overall against the RPI top 50. They have beaten UCLA, a good team, on a neutral floor, as well as SEC foe Mississippi St. So far they have no really bad losses, but they have mostly lost to teams better than them and beaten lesser teams. Like Kentucky, they are coming off a bounceback victory over Alabama after losing to Vanderbilt and South Carolina at home, both current top 25 teams.

Game analysis

Auburn is a good basketball team and a serious challenge for Kentucky on the road. Auburn has good size inside and out, and has plenty of quality players backing up the starters. While Auburn is not reckoned to be an SEC championship contender, they are more than capable of taking down a Kentucky team that isn't playing their best basketball right now.

The Tanner sisters are big, physical players who will test Kentucky's front line, particularly DaNesha Stallworth, who is still recovering from her knee surgery and isn't yet at full strength. Azia Bishop will have to pick up the slack for her and give her frequent breaks as the the frenetic style of the Wildcats take a toll on her stamina.

Auburn is not a particularly efficient offensive team, averaging only 0.91 points per possession against Kentucky 1.04. Auburn is a very good defensive squad, and their points allowed per possession is roughly on par with Kentucky at 0.8 for UK and 0.83 for AU. Like Kentucky, Auburn likes to force turnovers, and today's game is likely to turn on two major components: Who gets the most points off turnovers and who makes the most layups.

Kentucky is the better 3-point shooting team, but they have had trouble putting the ball into the basket in recent games. Perhaps this is the one that will see the return of the focused Kentucky squad that defeated Baylor in Dallas earlier this season.

Go, 'Cats!