Auburn women’s basketball will be starting its season this week with two exhibitions in which it will face West Georgia and Columbus State. Auburn finished last season with an overall winning record, but a losing record of 5-11 in conference play. 

Auburn women’s basketball will be taking on West Georgia on Monday, Oct. 30. West Georgia is in the process of transitioning to a Division I school that will be joining the ASUN Conference in 2024. West Georgia is under the second-year coaching of Joanna Reitz. Reitz has retooled her roster as she recently added four transfers to the roster that could potentially have an effect on Auburn’s play making. 

Some players to watch for West Georgia could be Aliyah Washington and Katelyn Dunning. Both of these players combined for 45 starts last season, and Washington averaged 11.2 points per game to lead the Wolves while Dunning returns after averaging 7.6 points per game and starting in all 29 of West Georgia’s games from a season ago. Washington is coming off a season in which she was named the Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year.

A win would move the Tigers to 22-9 all-time in exhibition games, and this matchup marks the first time the two have played in an exhibition game.

The Tigers will also be taking on Columbus State on Thursday Nov. 2. Columbus State is a Division II school, right down the road from Auburn. Columbus State is planning on chartering fans to Auburn, which could create an atmosphere much like an in conference game. 

Columbus State has two players to look out for as well: Amber Abuseih and Olonna Rawls. Abuseih is a 5-foot-6 point guard from Staten Island, New York, while Tenbrock is a 6-foot-0 guard from Pembroke, Georgia. Both girls are going into their senior seasons and are coming off seasons where they averaged nearly 14 points per game. 

Both exhibition games will be taking place in Auburn at Neville Arena. West Georgia will be on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. CST and Columbus State will be on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. CST.