SAMFORD AT WESTERN CAROLINA GAME NOTES
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team will play its first Southern Conference road game when the Bulldogs play at Western Carolina Thursday at 5 p.m. (CT) in the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C.
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 4-6 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play after a 78-69 win over Mercer Saturday. Western Carolina is currently 3-7 overall and 1-0 in league play after a 49-42 win at UNCG Saturday.
Samford and Western Carolina have met 27 previous times, with Samford owning a 23-4 advantage in the series. The teams met three times last season, with Samford winning all three contests. The Bulldogs earned a 62-50 win at Western Carolina, a 70-53 win in the Pete Hanna Center, and a 77-62 victory in the first round of the SoCon Tournament.
NOTES
RAMIL NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Samford junior forward
Annie Ramil was named the Southern Conference's Player of the Week when the league released its weekly women's basketball awards Tuesday. Ramil turned in a career day in the Bulldogs' 78-69 win over preseason SoCon favorite Mercer Saturday. Ramil scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in leading Samford to the win. She made 11-of-17 shots from the floor, and was good on both of her three-point attempts. Ramil also made four of her five attempts from the free-throw line.
COURNOYER BRINGS A SPARK: After missing the first three games of the season with an injury, junior
Andrea Cournoyer has provided a needed spark for the Bulldogs in the last seven games. The Louisiana transfer is averaging a team-high 13.9 points per game. She led the team with 18 points in her Samford debut against UT Martin. She then had a team-high 19 points in a win over North Alabama. Cournoyer led the team with 14 points at No. 9 Kentucky. She also had 17 points in a win over Birmingham-Southern and 16 against Mercer.
ARMSTRONG NEARS CAREER MILESTONE: Natalie Armstrong enters this game with 992 career points, leaving her just eight points shy of becoming just the ninth player in program history to score 1,000 points in their careers. Her 992 career points rank ninth in school history.
NEWCOMERS STEP UP: A total of six Samford players turned in career-high performances in scoring in the team's 135-60 win over Birmingham-Southern Jan. 4.
Audra Leipold (23 pts.),
Annie Ramil (14),
Kiersten Nelson (13),
Kathleen Wheeler (12),
Jaden Langford (9) and
Katie Jones (2) each scored their Samford career highs against the Panthers. Ramil's career high was later eclipsed when she scored 28 points against Mercer.
AMONG SOCON LEADERS: Entering this game, Samford, as a team, leads the Southern Conference in field goal percentage (.444), three-point field goal percentage (.356) and three-pointers made per game (7.3). The Bulldogs also rank second in the league in assists per game (14.7), assist-turnover ratio (0.8) and rebounding defense (35.3).
SAMFORD IN SOCON PLAY: Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has a record of 121-82 in league games. Against the current members of the SoCon, Samford has an all-time record of 105-79. Samford's all-time record against each current SoCon team is: Chattanooga (8-25), ETSU (8-6), Furman (15-13), Mercer (8-19), UNCG (19-7), Western Carolina (23-4) and Wofford (24-5).
SAMFORD AWAY FROM HOME: This season, Samford has 12 games on its schedule set to be played away from the Pete Hanna Center, and the Bulldogs are currently 0-5 in those contests. Last season, Samford was 12-9 away from the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center, including an 8-9 mark in true road games and 4-0 in neutral-site contests.
SAMFORD AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA TEAMS: Samford has an all-time record of 68-49 against teams from the state of North Carolina, including a 23-4 mark against Western Carolina. Samford has played the following teams from North Carolina: Appalachian State (9-6), Campbell (1-13), Davidson (6-8), Duke (0-1), Elon (8-7), Gardner-Webb (1-1), UNC Asheville (1-1), UNC Greensboro (19-7), Wake Forest (0-1) and Western Carolina (23-4).
