https://goducks.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2024-25/auburn/boxscore/23363
The Auburn Tigers lost last night to the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, 70-68, in a battle of undefeated teams. This was the SEC team's first game away from home in Alabama. They had played a really soft schedule to put up some impressive stats while easily compiling a 3-0 record. Auburn had demolished those opponents while holding them to an average of 38 points per game.
Women's Basketball 2024-25 - Auburn Tigers - Official Athletics Website
I've decided to use the Oregon game as a more comparable game and opponent when comparing them to Cal.
I'm also not going to use last year's Bear victory over the Tigers in the deep South much in my analysis.
The two stars of Auburn this year are two transfers: SG (#0) Talia Scott, a 5-9 soph from the University of Arkansas, & PF (#5) DeYona Gaston, a 6-2 grad student from the University of Texas. Both are averaging more than 20 points per game and account for most of their team's offense. Their roster lists several tall post players, but they did not use them more than 10 minutes or so against Oregon. The Ducks outrebounded the Tigers by 10 boards.
Talia Scott was Arkansas's top scorer as a freshman, averaging 22.1 ppg! She has only played the last two games for Auburn but is putting up huge numbers. In her initial two encounters as an Auburn Tiger, she has gone off for 26 and 28 points, respectively. She drained 8 & 7 treys in those games. She basically is their three-point offense. Her shooting has been phenomenal in excess of 50% in each game.
Their impact post, DeYona Gaston, has backed her up with 21.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest. She got in early foul trouble in Eugene and only played 24 minutes, contributing 14 points plus three blocked shots. Both teams had only 11-13 assists while turning the ball over 19-20 times. Both Auburn & Oregon appear to have played formidable defense.
Auburn plays only five guards in their games. Talia Scott accounted for 28 of the Tiger's 68 points (or 41%)! If Cal could slow this sophomore dynamo down, they should be able to defend home court advantage. Oregon only made two three-point shots last night, so I don't know if it was caused by great defense or poor shooting. The Bears will certainly clarify that issue tomorrow night. I'm going to forecast a five-point victory, 72-67. Auburn's point guard, senior Mar'shaun Bostic (#12), had a bad night versus UO, committing 9 TOs. I believe that the outcome will be determined by the Bear's defense against their two starting guards. They both play nearly the entire game.
I anticipate that Auburn will come out with bigtime energy at 6:00 pm on Friday night. Two reasons-Cal embarrassed them on their home court last year and they want some payback, and Oregon forced them to experience their first loss of the 2024-25 season. Hopefully, Cal will prevail and remain undefeated.
GO BEARS!
The Auburn Tigers lost last night to the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, 70-68, in a battle of undefeated teams. This was the SEC team's first game away from home in Alabama. They had played a really soft schedule to put up some impressive stats while easily compiling a 3-0 record. Auburn had demolished those opponents while holding them to an average of 38 points per game.
Women's Basketball 2024-25 - Auburn Tigers - Official Athletics Website
I've decided to use the Oregon game as a more comparable game and opponent when comparing them to Cal.
I'm also not going to use last year's Bear victory over the Tigers in the deep South much in my analysis.
The two stars of Auburn this year are two transfers: SG (#0) Talia Scott, a 5-9 soph from the University of Arkansas, & PF (#5) DeYona Gaston, a 6-2 grad student from the University of Texas. Both are averaging more than 20 points per game and account for most of their team's offense. Their roster lists several tall post players, but they did not use them more than 10 minutes or so against Oregon. The Ducks outrebounded the Tigers by 10 boards.
Talia Scott was Arkansas's top scorer as a freshman, averaging 22.1 ppg! She has only played the last two games for Auburn but is putting up huge numbers. In her initial two encounters as an Auburn Tiger, she has gone off for 26 and 28 points, respectively. She drained 8 & 7 treys in those games. She basically is their three-point offense. Her shooting has been phenomenal in excess of 50% in each game.
Their impact post, DeYona Gaston, has backed her up with 21.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest. She got in early foul trouble in Eugene and only played 24 minutes, contributing 14 points plus three blocked shots. Both teams had only 11-13 assists while turning the ball over 19-20 times. Both Auburn & Oregon appear to have played formidable defense.
Auburn plays only five guards in their games. Talia Scott accounted for 28 of the Tiger's 68 points (or 41%)! If Cal could slow this sophomore dynamo down, they should be able to defend home court advantage. Oregon only made two three-point shots last night, so I don't know if it was caused by great defense or poor shooting. The Bears will certainly clarify that issue tomorrow night. I'm going to forecast a five-point victory, 72-67. Auburn's point guard, senior Mar'shaun Bostic (#12), had a bad night versus UO, committing 9 TOs. I believe that the outcome will be determined by the Bear's defense against their two starting guards. They both play nearly the entire game.
I anticipate that Auburn will come out with bigtime energy at 6:00 pm on Friday night. Two reasons-Cal embarrassed them on their home court last year and they want some payback, and Oregon forced them to experience their first loss of the 2024-25 season. Hopefully, Cal will prevail and remain undefeated.
GO BEARS!