GAME NOTES: Samford @ Northern Colorado (11.26.21)
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford continues its four-game road swing on Friday, Nov. 26 in Greeley, Colo., as the Bulldogs (1-4) face the Bears (1-3) of Northern Colorado at the Bank of Colorado Arena. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. Central and the game will be broadcast on the UNC TV Network.

The Bulldogs and Northern Colorado are meeting for the first time on the hardwood.  

Northern Colorado enters Friday's game coming off a 70-59 loss at San Francisco on Sunday, Nov. 21 at the Sobrato Center. Kurstyn Harden led Northern Colorado with 11 points and four rebounds. Hannah Simental added nine points for the Bears. The Dons were led by Ioanna Krimilli's game-high 14 points.

The Bulldogs dropped their third-straight after falling 81-48 at Colorado on Monday, Nov. 22 at the CU Events Center. Natalie Armstrong led the Bulldogs with nine points while Annie Ramil added eight points. Frida Formann led four Buffaloes in double figures with 13.


SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS:
Samford will play a formidable non-conference schedule for a third-straight year under head coach Carley Kuhns. The Bulldogs will square-off on the road with No. 9 Iowa (11.11), Jacksonville State (11.17), Southern Miss (11.20), Colorado (11.22), Northern Colorado (11.26), Troy (12.1), Ole Miss (12.17), and LSU (12.27). SU will host Jacksonville State (11.17), Murray State (12.4), Alabama A&M (12.9), UAB (12.12), and Kennesaw State (12.29).

The Bulldogs enter Friday's clash at Northern Colorado averaging 59.2 points per game to rank sixth in the SoCon. SU is also fifth in scoring defense at 69.8 points allowed per contest.

Freshman guards Mallory Hampton (4.0) and Sanaa Redmond (3.0) are handing out 7.0 assists per game for the Bulldogs. Hampton leads the SoCon while Redmond is currently No. 3 the league in assists per game.

Sussy Ngulefac recorded a career-high seven points and seven rebounds versus Jacksonville State. She is averaging 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Junior forward Annie Ramil has been a menace on the boards, averaging 6.2 rebounds per game, ranking No. 10 in the league. She turned in a season-high 15 rebounds at No. 9 Iowa in the season-opener.

Junior guard Andrea Cournoyer enters the weekend ranked No. 1 in the SoCon in scoring at 17.8 points per game. Cournoyer is just 23 points away from 1,000 in her career. The Merryville, La., native, scored 489 points in her two seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette before transferring to Samford, where she has scored 488. The multi-faceted guard played in 22 games for the Bulldogs while being named the 2020-21 SoCon Player of the Year. Cournoyer averaged a league-high 18.4 points per game while contributing 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Cournoyer was also a unanimous selection to the 2020-21 All-SoCon First Team.

Entering her final season with the Bulldogs, senior center Natalie Armstrong is looking to solidify one of the most memorable runs in recent Samford history. The 6-2 center led the Bulldogs with nine points at Colorado on Monday. She has played in 114 games for the Bulldogs, scoring 1,191 points in her illustrious career. The Norcross, Ga., native, has also cleared 578 career rebounds and blocked 122 shots. She led the SoCon in blocks (43) in 2020-21 while averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. In 2019-20, Armstrong was named the SoCon Tournament MVP after draining the game-winning three-pointer to propel the Bulldogs past UNCG and into the NCAA Tournament.

Senior guard Shauntai Battle is back after an injury-shortened 2020-21 campaign. The Mobile, Ala., native, is averaging 8.6 points per game so far this season to rank No. 17 in the SoCon. Known as one of the league's top defenders, Battle was named to the 2019-2020 All-SoCon Defensive Team after helping lead the Bulldogs to the regular season and tournament titles.  

Samford enters the 2021-22 campaign picked to finish second in both the Southern Conference Preseason Coaches' & Media Polls. The Bulldogs have captured back-to-back SoCon Regular Season Championships in coach Carley Kuhns first two seasons with Samford. Junior guard Andrea Cournoyer was picked to repeat as the league's Player of the Year while senior center Natalie Armstrong and junior forward Annie Ramil were also named to the All-SoCon Preseason Team.


FACE THE FOE: NORTHERN COLORADO
Northern Colorado enters Friday's game coming off a 70-59 loss at San Francisco on Sunday, Nov. 21 at the Sobrato Center. Kurstyn Harden led Northern Colorado with 11 points and four rebounds. Hannah Simental added nine points for the Bears. The Dons were led by Ioanna Krimilli's game-high 14 points.

The Bears are averaging 52.5 points per game while allowing 65.0 per contest. Northern Colorado scored a season-high 60 points versus Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 16 while Arizona State has scored the most points against the Bears this year with 71.    

Sophomore Hannah Simental leads the Bears in scoring at 11.3 points per game. The 5-foot-8 guard from Pueblo, Colo., has scored in double figures in all but one game for the Bears including a season-high 14 versus Texas-Rio Grande Valley. She had nine points in UNC's loss at San Francisco,  

Jaiden Galloway, a 5-6 senior guard from Aurora, Colo., is second on the team in scoring at 7.5 points per game. She has also handed-out 12 assists through four games, averaging 3.0 assists per game.

Northern Colorado is out-rebounding the competition this season 35.5 to 30.3 per game.


UP NEXT: TROY
Samford wraps up its four-game road swing on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at Troy. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.


FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford women's basketball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordWomen'sBasketball (Facebook), @SamfordWBB (Instagram) and @SamfordWBB (Twitter).