Auburn Tigers
Overall Rank: #33
Conference Rank: #8 SEC
Auburn is coming into the 2019-20 season with a lot of momentum as they won 22 games, had a winning conference record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy’s teams have always been known for their ability to play aggressive full-court defense and cause four quarters of havoc for their opponents every night.
2018-19 Record: 22-10, 9-7
2018-19 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Terri Williams-Flournoy
Coach Record: 124-101 at Auburn, 267-205 overall
Key Departed Players (starters in bold)
Janiah McKay, Guard, 14.0 ppg
Crystal Primm, Guard, 10.4 ppg
Emari Jones, Guard, 9.8 ppg
Key Returning Players (starters in bold)
Daisa Alexander, Senior, Guard, 12.6 ppg
Unique Thompson, Junior, Forward, 12.2 ppg
Robyn Benton, Sophomore, Guard, 5.8 ppg
Brooke Moore, Sophomore, Guard, 5.2 ppg
Erin Howard, Sophomore, Guard/Forward, 3.5 ppg
Abigayle Jackson, Junior, Forward, 2.7 ppg
Key New Players
Sania Wells, Freshman, Guard
Annie Hughes, Freshman, Guard
Maliya Perry, Freshman, Guard/Forward
Lauren Hansen, Freshman, Guard
Jala Jordan, Sophomore, Guard (Transfer from West Virginia)
Projection:
Daisa Alexander and Unique Thompson are the top two returning scorers for the Tigers this season. Alexander made 36.1 percent of her shots from behind the three-point line and had 74 steals as well in 2018-19. Thompson is a double-double threat every night as she averaged 12.2 points per game and 10.3 rebounds last season. Robyn Benton and Brooke Moore along with a deep freshman class in the backcourt will need to offset the lost production of Janiah McKay and Crystal Primm, who combined to score just over 24 points per game last year. The non-conference schedule is manageable and should set Auburn up to get off to a pretty good start heading into the SEC schedule. Speaking of the conference schedule, the Tigers have a four-game stretch against Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Florida, and Alabama where they will have a chance to get off to a fast start of 3-1 or 4-0. Starting on January 27th, Auburn will play four out of five games on the road including trips to Kentucky, Mississippi State, and South Carolina. If the Tigers can stay healthy and continue to improve offensively, they should post another 20 plus win season and get back to the NCAA Tournament.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 71.6 (67th in nation, 5th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 63.6 (149, 7)
Field-Goal Percentage: 41.8 (107, 9)
Field-Goal Defense: 42.0 (275, 12)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.0 (156, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 31.5 (161, 10)
Free-Throw Percentage: 70.7 (137, 6)
Rebound Margin: -1.0 (216, 10)
Assists Per Game: 12.3 (221, 11)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.0 (33, 4)
Madness 2019 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#81 Lauren Hansen
#120 Maliya Perry
