BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Today we continue the 2020-21 season of Samford Sports Wrap Up, Presented by Alabama Power, a series highlighting Samford's coaches and staff throughout the academic year. Today's 17th edition will feature head women's basketball coach Carley Kuhns.
 
The Samford women's basketball team has opened the season against three Power 5 conference opponents in Alabama, Auburn and 13^th-ranked Indiana. Kuhns said, despite not being able to come out with a win, she liked the effort she has seen so far from her players.
 
"I am definitely proud of this group because while we have a veteran core in Raven (Omar), Tai (Shauntai Battle) and Natalie (Armstrong), outside of them we really don't have anyone who has played valuable minutes on this team," Kuhns said. "So, for us to go and compete in those games early with a lot of new faces and a lot of young kids I think is valuable for our team."


 
Several players have stepped up and made plays during the early season so far. Kuhns said she likes how adaptable her team and her players have been so far.
 
"I thought we had numerous players step up and have the ability to be big contributors in games," Kuhns said. "We've talked a lot about that people have to be ready when their number's called because of everything that's going on."
 
Kuhns said, for the most part, the team has stayed healthy so far. Andrea Cournoyer, a transfer from Louisiana-Lafayette, has missed the first three games, but Kuhns said she hopes to get her back soon.
 
"We've been pretty healthy," Kuhns said. "We've been banged up here and there with a little bit of sickness. Raven (Omar), our starting point guard, tweaks her knee in shoot around before she goes into Auburn, and luckily she's tough enough that she played the game, and has recovered from that pretty well. But Andrea (Cournoyer), fingers crossed, will be released this week, full go. She's been running and I'm hopeful she'll be available for our game with UT Martin and that will be a big deal for us because she can really score the ball, and just to give us another guard in our rotation will be really helpful."
 
Three returners that have had expanded roles this year are Audra Leipold, Katie Allen and Makaila Woolard. Kuhns talked about the contributions those three players have made so far this season.
 
"Their ability to step in and have an impact in the game, maybe not from a scoring standpoint, but to have no drop off will be crucial for us," Kuhns said. "I think that they've been doing that. Audra has gone from last year not really playing many minutes to now starting, and she is just now getting comfortable in that role and I think she's only going to grow and get better. And it's the same with the other two. Katie Allen is a fifth year senior so she just knows how this works and knows what is expected of her. She never tries to do too much, never tries to do too little, she just plays her role. And then Mak (Makaila Woolard) is really, I think, finding her own on this team. She just plays her butt off and that's what gets her so many minutes is she plays so hard and she knows what's going on. She brings so much energy. Last night I think she had four steals and is rebounding against these big, long, athletic kids, and she's going to find herself getting more and more minutes because of that, and she does everything we ask her to do in that role."
 
Senior Shauntai Battle was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for her performance in the first two games of the season. Kuhns talked about how she has played so far this season.
 
"It's funny because we've had a lot of conversations about, we need you to be a scorer," Kuhns said. "She's not really comfortable being the scorer, but I told her after the first two games that she's been exposed now and we know she can score, so now we're going to expect that of her. It's still a learning position for her, she was a role player for us last year. She was the glue kid that did a little bit of everything. She might have 17 points one game, but for the most part, she wasn't a scorer, she scored when she was open. So, she's figuring out how to be aggressive and what that looks like."
 
Another freshman, Kiersten Nelson, missed the first two games, but stepped up in the Indiana game and scored nine points. Kuhns talked about what she has seen from Nelson.
 
"She is one of my favorite kids to be around," Kuhns said. "She is just a joy, and the more the fans and the people around our program get to know her, they're going to love that kid. She's just a gamer. It's hard being a freshman, stepping in, and you're playing behind one of the best players in the conference. So, she hasn't really seen instant success, and it's hard to work through that when you're not seeing instant success. But she's really started to push through that wall and figure out how to work hard and how to earn minutes and how to earn time, and it paid off. I think she is only going to get better and I think she is going to have a chance to really have a special career here at Samford if she continues to work and want to get better and want that role, and I think she does."
 
Samford will play its home opener next Tuesday, Dec. 8, when the Bulldogs host UT Martin at 6 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. Kuhns said she and her team are looking forward to playing at home.
 
"We're excited to be at home," Kuhns said. "Our schedule's not going to get any easier. We're playing a really, really good basketball team here on Tuesday, they have one of the best players in the country, I think in Chelsey Perry. She is a very, very good basketball player. So, we'll have our hands full but we have a couple of days to prep for them and learn from these past couple of games. We'll go back and watch some film and grow from that and hopefully we'll see a really good basketball game here on Tuesday."