MIAMI — The No. 9 Auburn women’s basketball team (12-0) returns to the court this week as the Tigers open play at the Miami Holiday Tournament, hosted by the University of Miami.

The Tigers will open the tournament against Atlantic 10 member Duquesne (9-3), and will face either Miami (8-3) or Brown (1-7) in the second game of the tournament.

Auburn is coming off an eight-day break for the holidays, last playing on Dec. 21 at Coppin State. The Tigers cruised to a 74-46 win over the Eagles, giving head coach Nell Fortner the 100th win of her career.

After giving the team a long break, Fortner is excited to get a rested Tiger squad back on the court.

“It will be good to get back out on the floor and get back into a rhythm of playing basketball,” said Fortner. “Five days off for Christmas was a nice break to get everyone’s body healed and rested, but now it is time to get back to business. We are excited to play and looking forward to some good competition.”

Enjoying 80-degree temperatures in late December, Fortner said it is even nicer to be able to play in a good climate.

“It is a great atmosphere down here, going down to South Beach this morning and getting out in the sun a little bit,” she said. “It is good to get out of the gloomy, cold weather we were having back home. This is a nice place to play basketball.”

This will be the fourth time for Auburn to play in the Miami Holiday Tournament, but the seventh time overall to play in a tournament hosted by the University of Miami.

Auburn is 7-1 all-time in the Miami Holiday Tournament and has won the title the last two times. The last time the Tigers played in the tournament was 2006, with Auburn picking up wins over James Madison, 79-76 in overtime, and Miami, 79-71. DeWanna Bonner was named the tournament MVP while Whitney Boddie was also selected to the all-tournament team.

Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. from the BankUnited Center. Fans can listen to the game locally in Auburn on WMXA 96.7 FM with Andy Burcham calling the game and Arnika Edwards providing the color commentary.