The Mississippi State women’s basketball team will have had six days to rest up since their last game when they tip off against the Auburn Tigers Sunday afternoon. The Lady Bulldogs are coming off of a huge win at home against the University of Georgia. State took down the then-No. 8 Bulldogs in a thriller by a final score of 84-82. The Lady Bulldogs (12-5 overall, 3-1 SEC) now look to better their SEC record to 4-1 when they face Auburn. State has already beaten Kentucky, Mississippi, and Georgia this month and dropped a game to No.8 South Carolina. The Auburn tip-off is set for 2:00 pm at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum on the Plains.
Mississippi State is 8-23 all-time against the Tigers. Last season, the Tigers won the contest by a score of 78-48. However, going into last year’s game, State was 10-7 overall, 1-5 in the SEC. Obviously, this year’s squad is in a better position than last year’s.
Auburn is currently sporting a record of 13-3 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. The Tigers are ranked No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 19 in the Associated Press poll. The Tigers have two players averaging double-digit points a game. Tia Miller is averaging 12.6 points per game and Carol Smith is averaging 10.9 points per game. Both Le’Coe Willingham and LaKeisha Johnson are averaging 9.9 points per game.
For the Lady Bulldogs, junior LaToya Thomas is averaging 23.1 points per game, currently making her the fourth leading scorer in the nation. Freshman Tan White has drained an average of 18.8 points per game (42nd in the nation). Senior Jennifer Fambrough is averaging 12.6 points per game. State is averaging as a team 79.1 points per game, and has held their opponents to an average of 69.1 points per game.
The Lady Bulldogs have four games remaining in the month of January. After their trip to Auburn, they return home to host Arkansas on the 24th. They finish the month of January with road trips to Ole Miss and another match-up with Georgia. If State can defeat Auburn, it should serve as a spring board to finish the month out strongly.