Today’s SEC road trip to Vanderbilt is certainly going to be a big one for Auburn’s Alli Smalley.

The senior guard will make her 100th consecutive start for the Tigers’ women’s basketball team, and she’s just 22 points shy of breaking into Auburn’s top-10 career scoring list.

She’s currently 12th with 1,393 career points, and she’s been much of the reason for the Tigers’ quick turnaround after a dismal start to their season. Auburn began the year with a 1-4 mark, but since then it has gone 8-2 and won its first two conference games, including a 73-56 thrashing against Florida on Thursday night.

Auburn (9-6, 2-0) head coach Nell Fortner just hopes the squad’s recent success will carry over on the road.

“I think the team is very focused right now,” Fortner said. “Once conference play starts, you have some exact goals that you want to reach and I think that helps them stay focused. And, when you win, that only adds to your confidence. We have had good practices and good energy in ballgames and I am looking forward to continuing that.”

Vanderbilt (10-5, 1-1), meanwhile, is coming off a big 65-44 win against Mississippi State, and the Commodores have yet to lose a game at home this season, going 8-0 at Memorial Gymnasium.

The Commodores’ bigs will definitely be a match for the Tigers.

“Vanderbilt is always such a well-drilled, sound basketball team,” Fortner said. “They are smart, they run a lot of plays and are always a very solid basketball team. They have some tough post play in Hannah Tuomi and the guard play from Jence Rhoads, they are just a solid team.”

Tuomi, a senior forward, leads a pack of five Commodores who are averaging double figures. Tuomi is averaging 13.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while Jasmine Lister (13.3 points per game), Rhoads (12.7), Christina Foggie (11.1) and Stephanie Holzer (10.4) are in double digits as well.

More than a quarter of Vanderbilt’s offense has actually come from beyond the arc this season, with the Commodores averaging more than five 3-pointers per contest.

Smalley will definitely need some help from post players Blanche Alverson and Jordan Greenleaf, though, in a matchup that has gone down to the wire the last few times out.