In her second season as head coach, Terri Williams-Flournoy has led the Auburn women’s basketball team to its second consecutive Women’s NIT berth and will be playing Furman at Auburn Arena on Thursday, March 20 at 6 p.m.

After dropping their last regular season game to a last-place Ole Miss team in overtime and exiting the SEC Tournament in the second round with a 86-54 loss to Texas A&M, Auburn’s NCAA Tournament bubble was busted.

However, the Tigers are still looking forward to playing for a WNIT championship this season.

“With such a young team, it’s always great to get into postseason play and stay active,” Williams-Flournoy said. “No one wants to end their season so soon. Everyone wants to be playing at this time – whether it’s in the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT. It’s another opportunity to win a championship.”

This year’s team features six freshmen and two junior college transfers, therefore any postseason experience will help them down the road.

This will also be captain Tyrese Tanner’s last shot at winning a championship after having an impressive 17.0 points per game senior season, which was good enough for third in the conference and also earned Tanner a spot on First-Team All-SEC.

Auburn’s other two scorers averaging more than double-digit points are freshman Brandy Montgomery with 11.5 and sophomore Tra’Cee Tanner with 10.5.

Furman finished second in the Southern Conference with a 12-6 conference record and an 18-12 overall record on the season.

The Paladins finished only behind Chattanooga, who beat Auburn 80-52 on Nov. 24 and also posted an overall record of 29-3 to earn an 11-seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Furman has two players who earned All-SoCon honors, including sophomore forward Holli Wilkins who leads their team in scoring with 15.1 points per game and senior guard Brigid Morrissey, who leads the Southern Conference in assists this season with 182.

This is Furman’s third time in program history making the postseason and first since 2000 when the Paladins qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re very excited to participate in the WNIT against a program like Auburn,” Furman head coach Jackie Carson said to FurmanPaladins.com. “Our non-conference schedule helps prepare us for exciting challenges like the one ahead, and our players are looking forward to competing against Auburn.”

After winning their first three games last year at home against UAB, Western Kentucky and Tulane, Auburn lost in the Elite Eight round to eventual 2013 WNIT champion, Drexel.

“I thought our fans did a great job coming out and supporting us in the WNIT last year and we need them again,” Williams-Flournoy said.

The opening round game against Furman this Thursday, March 20, will be free for the first 100 students to enter Auburn Arena and $5 for every other student after those 100.

“It’s a great opportunity for our ladies to play in the postseason, and a great opportunity for our fans to continue to watch basketball,” Williams-Flournoy said.