SAMFORD VS. MERCER GAME NOTES
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team will open Southern Conference play by hosting preseason league favorite Mercer Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center.
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 3-6 after a record-breaking 135-60 win over Birmingham-Southern Monday. Mercer is currently 6-3 overall after an 87-51 win at UNC Wilmington Dec. 29.
Samford and Mercer have met 26 previous times, with Mercer holding a 19-7 advantage in the series. The teams met twice last season, with Samford winning both contests. The Bulldogs earned a 72-64 win in the Pete Hanna Center, and then a 60-54 victory at Mercer. In addition to their time together in the SoCon, the programs were co-members of the Atlantic Sun Conference from 1997 until Samford left for the Ohio Valley Conference in 2003.
NOTES
BULLDOGS SET MULTIPLE RECORDS IN WIN: In the team's Jan. 4, 135-60 win over Birmingham-Southern, Samford set seven school records and one Southern Conference record. The 135 points is the most ever by a SoCon team. The Bulldogs set program records for points scored (135), points scored in a half (69), points in a quarter (41), margin of victory (75), field goals made (53), field goal percentage (63.9) and assists (29). The team also set the Hanna Center record for most points in a regular-season game, men or women.
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 five games. The Louisiana transfer is averaging a team-high 13.5 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.
ARMSTRONG NEARS CAREER MILESTONE: Natalie Armstrong enters this game with 983 career points, leaving her just 17 points shy of becoming just the ninth player in program history to score 1,000 points in their careers. Her 983 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 Monday night.
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.
AMONG SOCON LEADERS: Entering this game, Samford, as a team, leads the Southern Conference in field goal percentage (.446) and three-point field goal percentage (.353). The Bulldogs also rank second in the league in assists per game (14.9), assist-turnover ratio (0.8) and three-pointers made per game (7.3).
SAMFORD IN SOCON PLAY: Since joining the Southern Conference in 2008, Samford has a record of 120-82 in league games. Against the current members of the SoCon, Samford has an all-time record of 104-79. Samford's all-time record against each current SoCon team is: Chattanooga (8-25), ETSU (8-6), Furman (15-13), Mercer (7-19), UNCG (19-7), Western Carolina (23-4) and Wofford (24-5).
SAMFORD AT HOME: In its 23-plus seasons of women's basketball, Samford has an all-time record of 184-118 at home. In 13-plus seasons in the Pete Hanna Center, the Bulldogs are 123-47 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, and the team is currently 3-1 in those contests.
SAMFORD AGAINST GEORGIA TEAMS: Samford has an all-time record of 22-39 against teams from the state of Georgia, including a 7-19 record against Mercer. Samford has played the following Georgia teams: Berry College (1-0), Columbus State (0-1), Georgia (1-0), Georgia Southern (9-3), Georgia State (2-11), Georgia Tech (0-4), Kennesaw State (0-1), Mercer (7-19), Morris Brown (1-0) and Shorter (1-0).
