AUBURN, Ala.— The home portion of the 2025-26 SEC schedule begins for Auburn women’s basketball Sunday afternoon as the Tigers host No. 23 Tennessee at Neville Arena.

Game time is 3 p.m. CT; arena doors open at 2 p.m.

The Tigers (11-4, 0-1) look to bounce back after dropping their conference opener Thursday night on the road at Mississippi State. Junior forward Quanirah Montague made her season debut for the Tigers and provided a spark at both ends of the court with seven points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Tennessee (9-3, 1-0) defeated Florida in their league opener at home Thursday night. 

Single-game tickets are available via AUBTix.com and at the Neville Arena ticket office on gameday. Also available are SEC Sunday Mini-Plans that include a ticket to the Tennessee, Florida, Oklahoma and LSU games. And, as always, Aubie’s Kids Club members receive free admission to all home women’s basketball games.

ON THE AIR
››     Brit Bowen and Larry DiChiara will have the radio call on ESPN 106.7 FM beginning at 6:15 p.m. CT. The broadcast can also be heard on AuburnTigers.com and the Auburn Athletics app.
››     The game can be seen on SEC Network with Matt Schick and Andrea Lloyd calling the action.

LAST TIME OUT
››     Auburn women’s basketball came up short in its SEC opener as Mississippi State pulled away in the second half for a 75-53 win Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
››     Kaitlyn Duhon was stellar on the defensive end, matching a career-high with seven steals to go along with 10 points, four rebounds, an assist and a block. Harissoum Coulibaly led the Tigers with 14 points along with a pair of steals.
››     After missing all of non-conference play with an injury, Quanirah Montague made her Auburn debut against her former team. She made an immediate impact with two blocked shots in the first quarter and finished with seven points, a team-leading seven rebounds, three blocks and a pair of steals.

AN AUBURN WIN WOULD…
››     Improve Auburn to 8-1 at home this year.
››     Be the second over Tennessee in the last three meetings at Neville Arena.
››     Be Auburn’s first ranked win since the 2023-24 season.

AUBURN-TENNESSEE SERIES
››     This is the 63rd meeting between Auburn and Tennessee, dating back to 1980. The Lady Vols lead 50-12, including a 16-6 advantage in Auburn.

LAST MEETING: Feb. 13, 2025, in Knoxville
No. 15 Tennessee 99, Auburn 61
››     Auburn’s DeYona Gaston picked up her sixth double-double of the season, but No. 15 Tennessee’s depth was too much as the Tigers fell 99-61 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
››     Gaston finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead all scorers in the game. It was the 13th time this year for Gaston to top the 20-point mark.
››     Tennessee hit an SEC-season high 14 3-pointers and shot 56 percent from the field (39-70) while Auburn was 43 percent from the field (24-56). The Lady Vols turned 21 Auburn turnovers into 22 points.

SCOUTING THE LADY VOLS
››     Tennessee is 9-3 overall on the season, 1-0 in SEC play after a win over Florida on Thursday.
››     The Lady Vols are 27th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 80.9 points per game. Tennessee also attempts more 3-pointers than almost anyone nationally, attempting 33.7 per game (2nd NCAA) and making 10.0 per game (8th NCAA). The Lady Vols are also top-25 nationally in steals per game (17th – 13.2), rebounds per game (16th – 44.8), turnovers forced (20th- 22.75) and turnover margin (22nd – 7.0).
››     Talaysia Cooper leads four Lady Vols in double figures with 14.7 points per game. Janiah Barker is right behind Cooper with 14.2 per game.

SCOUTING AUBURN 
››     Auburn is 11-4 on the year, dropping its SEC opener at Mississippi State Thursday night.
››     The Tigers rank 32nd nationally in scoring defense, holding opponents to 55.1 points per game. Auburn also ranks 29th nationally in steals per game (12.1) and 42nd in field goal percentage defense (36.0).
››     True freshman Harissoum Coulibaly averages a team-best 11.1 points per game mostly off the bench; she has started three of the last four games, however. She was named SEC Freshman of the Week Dec. 23 after averaging 15.0 points in the two wins over MTSU and Alcorn. She also shoots a team-best 53.3% from the field. She led Auburn with 19 points, matching a season-best, in the win over Georgia State Nov. 17. She made a splash in her college debut Nov. 3 at Charlotte, scoring a team-leading 19 points with nine of those coming in the pivotal overtime period. She added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists vs. MVSU. She came to the U.S. from Paris, France, and she played high school basketball at S3 Academy in Virginia.
››     Redshirt junior Kaitlyn Duhon averages 9.9 points per game. One of the top defenders in the SEC, she also leads the Tigers with 3.7 steals per game, which ranks 3rd in the SEC and 8th nationally. Duhon scored a career-high 20 points and was 5-of-5 from 3-point range at Seton Hall Dec. 14. She also had a career-best 7 steals in the win over Cal on Nov. 26, then had 15 points and six steals at Syracuse Dec. 3. She matched her career-high in steals with 7 at Mississippi State on Jan. 1. 
››     Sophomore Khady Leye has been steady, averaging 9.1 points and a team-best 5.4 rebounds. She scored a career-high 20 points in the win over MVSU, then she recorded her first Auburn double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. Georgia State. She added a team-leading 14 points in the win over Rutgers Nov. 20.  
››     Mya Petticord, a senior transfer from Rutgers,matched a season high with 21 points, hitting 4-of-5 3s to lead Auburn in the win over Jackson State. She hit the game-winning shot against her former team, hitting a driving layup with 10 seconds left to clinch the Tigers’ win Nov. 20. She had her best game in two years with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting (3-4 3FG) in the win over Alabama State. She followed that up with a team-leading 18 points (4-7 3FG) in the win over UNCG. Petticord averages 10.8 points per game and is one of the nation’s top free-throw shooters at 91.2% (31-34).
››     Ja’Mia Harris scored in double figures in three of the first four games. She shared the team lead with 19 points and led the Tigers with 8 rebounds in the win at Charlotte Nov. 3, then scored 16 with four 3-pointers in the win over Alabama State. She followed that up with a pair of 3-pointers on an 11-point night – along with 7 rebounds – vs. UNCG, and she had 17 points and 7 rebounds at Seton Hall. 
››     Junior forward Quanirah Montague, a Mississippi State transfer, made her first appearance of the season against her former school Jan. 1, making an immediate impact with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. She missed the first 14 games with an injury suffered late last season. She appeared in all 34 games last year for Mississippi State, averaging 4.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game.
››     Senior guard A’riel Jackson scored a season-high 17 points, going 7-11 from the field and 3-3 from 3-point range to lead the Tigers in their win over Cal Nov. 26. Two days earlier, she scored a season-high 12 points in the win over UTSA. Jackson knocked down three first-half treys, scoring 9 points with a team-best 4 assists vs. UNCG. She then had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists against Alabama State.
››     Sophomore Syriah Daniels dazzled in her first start of the season at MTSU, setting or matching career-highs with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in the win. She also scored 10 points with four rebounds and two steals vs. MVSU. She played in 28 games last year, starting six, and averaged 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds.
››     Freshman Sania Richardson had the best game of her young career with 12 points in the win over Jackson State. She averages 4.2 points off the bench and is becoming one of Auburn’s top 3-point threats.
››     6-9 redshirt freshmen Arek Angui notched her first career double-double with career-highs 11 points and 11 rebounds vs. Mississippi Valley State. She made her first appearance for Auburn against Alabama State Nov. 8 and pulled down a team-leading 8 rebounds along with 3 points. Originally from South Sudan, she played one season of high school basketball at Greenforest Academy in Georgia.
››     Senior guard Angena Belloso transferred from FIU where she played in 57 games the last 2 years. She scored a season-high 10 points, all in the second quarter, in Auburn’s game with Oregon Nov. 30.
››     Junior Clara Koulibaly came from the junior college ranks, where she started all 28 games last season at Gulf Coast State CC and averaged 12.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She scored a season-high 4 points in the win over Cal.
››     Sophomore guard Eva Garabadian joined the Tigers as a walk-on in mid-November and made her Auburn debut with three minutes of action at MTSU. She played in 16 games at Georgia College last year as a freshman.

DEFENSE IS OUR STRENGTH
››     Through games of Jan. 1, Auburn ranks 9th in the SEC and 32nd nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 55.1 points per game. 
››     All 14 opponents on Auburn’s schedule have been held below their season scoring average, and two have been held to season-lows.

UP NEXT
››     Auburn hits the road again Thursday, traveling to Austin to take on the No. 2 Texas Longhorns. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at the Moody Center.