Auburn women’s basketball gets its first look at competition Wednesday when it plays UCF in an exhibition game in Birmingham.
The Tigers are led by head coach Larry Vickers, who enters his second season with Auburn this fall.
“We have to win a lot more basketball games,” Vickers said on entering year two. “That's our goal. So as we kind of go through this process now in year two, and we begin to put together teams that I want to kind of be staples in Larry Vickers basketball teams, we just want to grow day in and day out, on the floor, from top to bottom.”
TOP TRANSFER OUT FOR SEASON
Auburn will be without one of its top transfer signees for the season, as Ole Miss transfer Sira Thienou will miss the season with a torn ACL. Vickers spoke on the impact of the loss during SEC Media Days on Tuesday.
“I mean, she could play 32-plus minutes for us with the guard depth that we have,” Vickers said. “She's just an unbelievable player…obviously, just losing her is a huge piece for us. But I do think our team kind of had the next woman up mentality.”
Thienou is one of eight newcomers on the roster this season, which is made up of six transfers and two true freshmen.
PORTAL ADDITIONS IN NEEDED SPOTS
The Tigers added size to its roster through the transfer portal, with key additions in Jessica Peterson (Miami), Danielle Osho (Miami) and Savannah Scott (UCF). Vickers is hopeful this helps Auburn find more success in rebounding, which he says is the biggest difference in this year’s squad.
“Definitely rebounding, it’s not even close,” Vickers said. “We have people, like I have players, fighting for rebounds in practice. Last year, it wasn't that we didn't have that rebounding mindset. We were just so small.”
TALENTED FRESHMEN INCOMING
Auburn brings in two freshmen guards in Ashley Knox and Zaniyah Williams, both of which were ranked top-100 players in their recruiting class. Knox ranked No. 72, while Williams ranked No. 77.
KEY PIECES RETURNING
Meanwhile, Auburn returns an important piece to its starting lineup in veteran Kaitlyn Duhon. One of the better defenders in the SEC, Duhon brings experience and serves as a tonesetter for what Vickers is looking to install in defensive mentality.
“When you have players on your team like Kaitlyn Duhon, who every day isn’t getting scored on, when everybody hates getting scored on, you know, she's a versatile defender,” Vickers said. “It just became a part of our DNA and our mentality.”
Other key returns include Ja’Mia Harris, Syriah Daniels and Sania Richardson. And with Theinou sidelined for the season, Vickers has seen the group respond the right way.
“I could see some of the focus on some of our guards after she went down improved from day to day,” Vickers said. “As they look at just now and know that they're going to have to do a lot more for us to achieve a lot of our team goals going into the year.”
What are the goals for Vickers in his second season at the helm of the women’s basketball program?
“I think overall for us, you know, doubling that win total,” Vickers said. “Being in the NCAA tournament conversation. Those are important pieces of the puzzle for us, as we look to grow this thing to a national power again.”
Auburn plays UCF in an exhibition at noon CST. The Tigers begin their regular season on Nov. 2 against Alabama State.
