Alabama State women's basketball team will head north on I-85 to face in-state team Auburn University in their 2012-13 season opener Thursday night in Auburn, Ala.  The game is slated to start at 6 p.m. at the Auburn Arena.
 
This game will be the first played between the two since the 2006 season, when the Lady Hornets fell to the Tigers in Auburn 84-47.  The two teams have met a total of 17 times.
 
The Lady Hornets will enter tomorrow's contest with a win over Faulkner during an exhibition match-up.  Alabama State slid by the Eagles 58-53 in the contest.  Nakiya Smith led the team with 18 points, seven steals, and six rebounds.  The junior college transfer has come out and made a vital impact with the Lady Hornets basketball team.  Sophomore Ashley Jones chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds in the win. 
 
Auburn will be coming off a loss to North Carolina State, 85-71, while picking up a win over Maine, 71-41 during the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational. The team was led by Hasina Muhammad with 20 points in the game against Maine and Tyrese Tanner had a season high of 26 points in the game against the Wolfpacks.
 
The Lady Hornets will look to improve their 2011-12 season after finishing fifth in the conference with a 14-14 overall record.  Alabama State took their practice on the road tonight as they prepared for their bout against SEC team Auburn.
 
“We had an intense practice tonight,” said assistant coach Clayton Harris.    “We are going to have to pay attention to defensive detail and run our offense in order for us to compete in this ball game.  We came to Auburn tonight to practice and we felt like we were at home here.  They have a big gym and so do we so we just turned into our home court for the night.”
 
“We hope that our spirited practice carries into the game tomorrow.  We (the coaches) emphasized that to our players tonight.  We know them like they (Auburn) know us, they have already played in two games and of course this will be our first game of the season.  We are ready to play, with 11 returning players we are a much better ball club then last season.  The fact that these girls are a year older we are more rounded and more experienced and we are ready for the challenge.”
 
For fans that cannot make it to the game, GameTracker and a live video Webcast will be available at AuburnTigers.com.
 
GO HORNETS