SAMFORD VS. UT MARTIN GAME NOTES

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team will host former OVC rival UT Martin for the team's home opener Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. Admission to the game is free, with limited capacity and social distancing required due to COVID-19.
 
The game will be broadcast live at the following link: ESPN+, and live stats will be available at the following link: Live Stats.
 
Samford enters the game with a record of 0-3. The Bulldogs are coming off a 71-26 loss at 13th-ranked Indiana Dec. 3. UT Martin has a mark of 0-1 after an 85-67 loss at fifth-ranked Louisville Sunday.
 
Samford and UT Martin have met 16 previous times, with the Skyhawks holding an 11-5 advantage in the series. The teams met last season in Martin, Tenn., with UTM earning an 80-75 overtime win. Samford's last win in the series came in a 69-62 victory on Nov. 23, 2016, in the Pete Hanna Center. Samford and UT Martin were co-members of the OVC from 2003 until Samford moved to the SoCon in the summer of 2008.
 
NOTES
 
BATTLE STEPS UP IN SCORING: Senior Shauntai Battle has stepped her scoring through the first three games of the season. Through the first three games of the season, she leads the team, averaging 17.3 points per game. She scored 21 points in the season opener at Alabama, and then contributed 19 points in a narrow loss at Auburn.  Battle then had a team-high 12 points at 13th-ranked Indiana.
 
FACING THE BEST: This season, Samford will play another stellar non-conference schedule. The Bulldogs' non-league slate includes five games against Power 5 conference teams. Having already taken on Alabama, Auburn and Indiana, Samford also has games scheduled at Kentucky (Dec. 13) and Vanderbilt (Dec. 28). In addition to the Power 5 conference teams, Samford will also take on perennial NCAA Tournament teams UT Martin and Western Kentucky.
 
ARMSTRONG PICKS UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF: Samford senior center Natalie Armstrong has picked up right where she left off last season. Through three games so far this season, Armstrong is averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. She had 25 points and 10 rebounds in the season opener at Alabama, and then turned in 10 points and six rebounds at Auburn.
 
ARMSTRONG NEARS CAREER MILESTONE: Natalie Armstrong enters this game with 922 career points, leaving her just 78 points shy of becoming just the ninth player in program history to score 1,000 points in their careers. Her 922 career points rank ninth in school history.
 
SAMFORD VERSUS OVC OPPONENTS: Samford has an all-time record of 72-75 against the current members of the Ohio Valley Conference, including a 5-11 mark against UT Martin. Samford was a member of the OVC from 2003 until moving to the SoCon in the summer of 2008. Samford's all-time record against each current OVC team follows: Austin Peay (7-3), Belmont (0-8), Eastern Illinois (5-3), Eastern Kentucky (6-6), Jacksonville State (18-14), Morehead State (8-4), Murray State (4-6), Southeast Missouri (4-10), Tennessee State (9-2), Tennessee Tech (6-8) and UT Martin (5-11).
 
SAMFORD AT HOME: In its 23 seasons of women's basketball, Samford has an all-time record of 181-117 at home. In 13 seasons in the Pete Hanna Center, the Bulldogs are 120-46 in their current home. In 10 seasons in Seibert Hall, Samford had a record of 61-71 in that facility. Last season, Samford posted a record of 6-5 in home games. This season, the Bulldogs have 10 home games on their schedule.
 
LEADING THE SOCON: Entering this game, Samford leads the Southern Conference as a team in three-point field goal percentage, making 35.1  percent of attempts from beyond the arc. Individually, Raven Omar is tied for the league lead in assists per game (5.0). Shauntai Battle leads the league in minutes played per game (38.0), and she ranks second in the league in scoring (17.3 ppg.).
 
SAMFORD AGAINST TENNESSEE TEAMS: Samford has an all-time
record of 49-68 against teams from the state of Tennessee, including a 5-11 mark against UT Martin. Samford has a played the following Tennessee teams: Austin Peay (7-3), Belmont (0-8), Chattanooga (8-25), ETSU (8-6), Lipscomb (3-0), Martin Methodist (1-0), Memphis (2-2), UT Martin (5-11), Tennessee State (9-2), Tennessee Tech (6-8) and Vanderbilt (0-3).