Auburn women’s basketball standout Unique Thompson, a former all-state player at Faith Academy, broke the school’s all-time career rebounding record Tuesday night in the Tigers’ 81-68 loss at Mississippi State
Lagniappe has a feature story on Thompson in this week’s print edition.
Thompson entered the game needing 10 rebounds to break the record, previously held by Becky Jackson with 1,118. Thompson pulled down 14 rebounds against Mississippi State and now has 1,123 rebounds in her Auburn career.
Her 1,119th career rebound, came with 5:28 to play in the third quarter, moving her past Jackson for the top spot in the Auburn record book.
“It means everything to me,” Thompson said following the game. “It’s hard to not get choked up and teary-eyed. I had goosebumps the whole game. Before the game I was a nervous wreck, just knowing what I had to do tonight. Once I looked up and saw that I had (10 rebounds), I couldn’t do anything but smile. I knew I had to work hard and it wasn’t going to come easy tonight.”
Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy praised Thompson’s accomplishment.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity Unique had tonight to break that record,” she said. “You look at when the record was set, and now it’s 2021 that it’s being broken, that speaks kudos to Unique Thompson for what she’s done in her four years at Auburn. It’s been tough for her, being the only senior and having to put us on her back and carry us with so many newcomers, but she’s done a great job.”
Thompson, of Theodore, has been the Tigers’ top player all season. She currently leads the nation in rebounds per game with a 13.0 average while also averaging 17.8 points a game. She is on the Naismith Award watch list for national Player of the Year honors.
Along with her national standing, the 6-foot-3 senior ranks No. 3 in the SEC in steals per game, No. 5 in field goal percentage, No. 6 in points per game and No. 20 in blocked shots.
Thompson will be honored on Senior Night at Auburn Arena Thursday when the Tigers face Arkansas. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m., with Senior Night ceremonies set to begin at 7:40 p.m.
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