Preview – No. 10 Seed Hogs Face No. 7 Seed Auburn in SEC Tournament

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (18-13) received the 10th seed at the 2024 SEC Women’s Basketball Championship and are set to face Auburn (19-10), who enter the week as the seventh seed, in the second round. The two teams will tipoff on Thursday, March 7 at 5 p.m. CT from the Bon Secours Wellness Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Coverage of the game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

GAME INFORMATION

Date: Thursday, March 7
Time: 5 p.m. CT
Opponent: (7) Auburn
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Center (Greenville, S.C.)
Watch: SECN
Listen: Razorback Sports Network from Learfield
Arkansas Game Notes
Auburn Game Notes
Live Stats on Statbroadcast

STORYLINES

• The Arkansas women’s basketball team is looking to regroup at the 2024 SEC Tournament, as the Hogs ended the regular season on a four-game losing skid
• Arkansas is the No. 10 seed in the SEC Tournament, set to face No. 7 Auburn for the second time this season. The winner of the 7 vs. 10 game will play No. 2 seed LSU on Friday at 5 p.m. CT
• The Hogs have 18 wins on the season and are looking for two wins in the tournament this week clinch back-to-back 20-win seasons for Mike Neighbors since 2018-19 and 2019-20
• Arkansas defeated Auburn in the regular season, 74-72, marking the third straight one possession win over the Tigers
• The Hogs have won seven straight over Auburn, looking for win No. 8 in a row
• Taliah Scott leads the Hogs in scoring with 22.1 points per game and is the only player in the SEC to average 20.0+ points per game. She was tabbed to the SEC All-Freshman Team on Tuesday, marking the third straight year Neighbors has had an All-Freshman Team selection, fourth overall
• Saylor Poffenbarger is one of the top defensive rebounders in the country. She leads the SEC in defensive rebounds/game (9.4) and is second in rebounds/game (11.2), which are second and eighth in the NCAA. She has pulled down 337 boards, which surpasses the total she had all season as a redshirt freshman in 2022-23 (255). Her 54 3-pointers is tied for the most on the team
• Samara Spencer leads the team with 110 assists. Her 360 career assists is No. 11 on the career list and her 1,343 points is No. 18 on the all-time scoring list
• Maryam Dauda has made a big jump this season, pacing the team with 73 blocks, which is third in the league (2.4 per game), and her 2.8 blocks per game in SEC contests paces the SEC. She is No. 3 on the individual season block list at Arkansas
• Makayla Daniels is an elite defender and leads the team with 51 steals and is tied for a team’s most 54 3-pointers made. She is the highest scoring point guard in school history with 1,832 points, making her a top five scorer in school history, while holding a program’s most starts and games played records with 153, as well as career minutes (4,520). Daniels was selected on the All-SEC Preseason Second Team, as chosen by the league’s coaches
• The Hogs lead the league in 3-pointers per game (8.9), which is 15th in the NCAA, 3-point attempts per game (29.7), a number that is third in the country, as well as turnovers per game (12.5), 17th in the country

SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• This will mark Arkansas’ fourth time playing Auburn in the SEC Tournament
• Arkansas has a 2-1 edge over Auburn in games played in the SEC Tournament. The last time these two teams met in the postseason was in in 2020 in Greenville in the second round, where Arkansas defeated the Tigers, 90-68
• The Hogs are 19-32 overall in SEC Tournament games
• Arkansas is 7-10 in second round games, winning four of the last five second round games, including the last two vs. Missouri in 2022 (W, 61-52 in OT) and 2023 (W, 85-74)
• Arkansas’ most success in the SEC Tournament was 2019, in which the Hogs made a run to the finals as the No. 10 seed. Arkansas defeated Georgia in the second round (W, 76-76), No. 12 South Carolina in the quarterfinals (W, 95-89) and No. 17 Texas A&M in the semifinals (W, 58-51) before losing to No. 5 Mississippi State in the finals (L, 101-70)

SCOUTING AUBURN

• Auburn is 19-10 and 8-8 in the SEC, marking the first time since 2019 the Tigers have secured a .500 or better finish in league play
• The Tigers closed out the regular season with three straight wins, including a 77-74 victory at Florida on Sunday
• Honesty Scott-Grayson has enjoyed a stellar graduate season as an All-SEC First Team choice, leading Auburn with 18.3 points per game. She also logs 4.2 rebounds per game and has tallied 65 assists and 40 steals
• Taylen Collins paces Auburn on the boards with 6.3 rebounds per game. She also has a team’s most 20 blocks and 48 steals and scores 8.3 points per game
• JaMya Mingo-Young leads the team with 100 total assists and averages 8.9 points per game
• Auburn leads the league in turnover margin (+5.62)
• Arkansas native Johnnie Harris is in her third season at the helm of Auburn
• Coach Harris is coming off leading Auburn to its first winning record and first postseason showing in four years after the Tigers made the second round of the Postseason WNIT in 2022-23

HISTORY AGAINST THE TIGERS

• Auburn leads Arkansas in the series, 23-22, while Arkansas paces Auburn in SEC Tournament games, 2-1
• On a neutral site, the Hogs and Tigers are tied, 2-2
• The Hogs have won seven straight over the Tigers and are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings
• Coach Neighbors is 8-1 in his head coaching career vs. Auburn
• Arkansas won a thriller vs. Auburn in the regular season, 74-72. The Hogs were outscored 34-25 in the first half, but a 31-point third quarter and a stop on defense at the end propelled the Hogs to victory. Scott led the Hogs with 33 points, including 17 in the third quarter. Daniels logged 15 points and six rebounds, Dauda had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds with four blocks and Spencer registered 10 points, including a big and-1 late in the fourth quarter. Poffenbarger recorded 13 rebounds, while the Hogs outrebounded the Tigers, 44-41

LAST TIME OUT

• Arkansas fell 87-43 at Ole Miss in the final regular season matchup
• Dauda logged 11 points, two rebounds and two blocks in just 22 minutes
• Daniels delivered 11 points, three assists and two steals
• Spencer had 10 points, three boards, three assists, one steal and one block
• Poffenbarger had seven points and six boards, while Emrie Ellis had two blocks
• Arkansas broke the single season blocks record as a team with their five on Sunday, now with 167 on the season

UPCOMING

The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals to play No. 2 seed LSU on Friday, March 8 at 5 p.m. CT. That game will be broadcast on the SEC Network. 

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about Arkansas Women’s Basketball, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @RazorbackWBB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/RazorbackWBB. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, “Kickin’ It In The Neighborhood” for an inside look at the Razorback women’s basketball program and check out The Neighborhood podcasts at CoachNeighbors.com.