BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford Athletics is continuing the Student-Athlete Spotlight series, presented by Coca-Cola, which, this week, will highlight Sussy Ngulefac, a freshman on the women's basketball team.
 
Ngulefac came to Samford from Lilburn, Georgia and Parkview High School. She talked a little about how she wound up at Samford.
 
"I hadn't heard of Samford before and recruiting for me my senior year with COVID and everything was kind of weird," Ngulefac said. "I couldn't really go on official visits, but it was, I think October, so I needed a decision and Samford was actually my last offer and immediately I just fell in love with the school, the coaches, the team. I came on a tour because we couldn't do official visits. I loved the school, had all of the Zoom calls with the coaches. I loved them, it felt like family and after talking to some of the teammates, it was pretty easy."
 
Ngulefac had an extra connection with Samford head coach Carley Kuhns, coming from the same hometown and high school.
 
"Coach Carley, it's actually weird, because she went to Parkview," Ngulefac said. "She knows some of my coaches and played with some of the coaches that I know that coached me and she was on the state championship team at Parkview. It's kind of crazy, once she started recruiting me, I didn't even know that she went to Parkview and lived less than 10 minutes away from where I live."
 
This year's Samford team has a lot of experienced players on the roster. Ngulefac said having those veteran players around has been beneficial to her as she progresses in her time at Samford.
 
"I think just having people who've been here, know how it goes, kind of know what to expect is really helpful," Ngulefac said. "Especially when we first got here, any questions I had, anything I wasn't sure about, they were really good about just helping me through that. And then on the court, having the standards and being able to follow in their footsteps of knowing how the game goes and what level you have to play at to be successful here. So, having them in front of us is really helpful."
 
Ngulefac had a break-out game in the Bulldogs' contest at Troy a couple of weeks ago. She scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds in the game and has been in the starting lineup ever since.
 
"Prior to Troy, I think, just being a freshman, I was playing but still kind of struggling with feeling comfortable and knowing that I'm capable of scoring, playing defense, rebounding, all that kind of stuff," Ngulefac said. "But Troy, it was kind of up from there. It was kind of a breakthrough for me, I guess. Ever since then I've been in the starting lineup, and just being able to kind of set the tone for the game has been really huge for me."
 
This year's team has shown a lot of resiliency. Ngulefac said that, while the team has had its ups and downs, the team has responded well to adversity.
 
"I think we kind of have been inconsistent, but I think when it comes to coming together and knowing that we need to take care of business, I feel like we always do that," Ngulefac said. "Especially that UAB game, prior to that, our big thing was response. How are we going to respond? How are we come out? We were definitely capable of beating them and they're a good team, but I think just with our preparation, our mind set, scouting, everyone knew the scout, knew their tendencies. We just came together. At a point, we were down by 13, just being able to stop their runs and go on one ourselves, I think we always find a way to come together when we need to."
 
Most recently, the Bulldogs earned a 77-68 win over cross-town rival UAB. Ngulefac said that was a big game and a big win for the players.
 
"I know especially the veterans, everyone is like, we need people at the UAB game, we need to beat UAB," Ngulefac said. "It just obviously is a rivalry so it was a really nice moment for everyone in the locker room, just pulling out a win when we needed one."
 
The women's basketball team has already played a pair of Power 5 programs in Iowa and Colorado and has two more coming up against Ole Miss and LSU. Ngulefac talked about what it's like playing against the bigger schools in her first year of college basketball.
 
"For me, it's super exciting," Ngulefac said. "Being able to compete at that level with Ole Miss and LSU, I think is exciting and it's just an opportunity for us to grow and show how well we can compete against them. So, I think it's going to be really exciting especially because they're physical, competitive and I always love those kinds of games. I think it will be good for us, especially just preparing us for conference."
 
Samford will play at Ole Miss Friday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. in Oxford, Miss. The game can be seen live on SECN+ at the following link: WATCH LIVE. Live stats will also be available by clicking here: LIVE STATS.


 
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