The Auburn women’s basketball team’s daunting stretch against four consecutive ranked teams got a whole lot tougher, in Nell Fortner’s opinion, when No. 9 Georgia lost Thursday.

“They are going to be a hungry team,” Fortner said. “They have lost their last two and we have lost our last four, so you have two teams battling to get back in the win column.”

Auburn’s chance to snap that four-game skid starts at 5 p.m. today at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum against the ninth-ranked Bulldogs.

Auburn, at least, has played some good basketball during the past two weeks. The Tigers nearly escaped with a victory against perennial bugaboo Vanderbilt last week despite not having KeKe Carrier for the majority of the game. On Thursday, they raced out to an early lead against No. 5 Tennessee before falling victim to a 3-point barrage from the Lady Vols.

“We played hard,” Fortner said. “Tennessee shot the ball so well, we caught them on a night when their 3s were really falling and made the score look worse than maybe the game actually was. I thought we fought hard and played hard but just didn’t have enough that night.”

Georgia’s struggles, meanwhile, have been a bit more relative. The Bulldogs raced out to a 16-0 start before dropping their first of three losses over a two-week stretch. They’re coming off back-to-back losses against Ole Miss and Mississippi State, setting up a major game for the Bulldogs in terms of maintaining a high spot in the Associated Press poll.

The Bulldogs return pretty much everyone that gave Auburn fits in its letdown loss last year in Athens. That includes senior point guard Ashley Houts, whom Fortner considers the best in the SEC.

“I think she has been that for a long time,” Fortner said. “She is an experienced senior, she is smart, I really think she is something special. Georgia also has some really nice post players in Angel Robinson, who had a couple big games against us last year, and Porsha Phillips.”

Fans should plan to arrive for tonight’s game early. The first 600 fans will receive a Carrier bobblehead doll, as Auburn commemorates its lone senior.

“I’m sure it will be the hottest item on campus, I can’t wait to get mine,” Fortner said. “KeKe is so popular on campus, everyone loves her. She is our lone senior this year and that is a pretty fun way to honor her.”

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