BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team inched closer to a second-straight Southern Conference regular season title with a 77-58 victory over East Tennessee State on Saturday, Feb. 20 at the Pete Hanna Center. Prior to the game, coach Carley Kuhns and her staff honored their five seniors - Katie Allen, Natalie Armstrong, Shauntai Battle, Raven Omar and Makaila Woolard.
 
Samford's Armstrong turned in a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds while Andrea Cournoyer chipped in 17 points and four assists.
 
ETSU was led by Carly Hooks with 16 points.

THE BASICS:
Score:  Samford 77 | East Tennessee State 55
Records:  Bulldogs 13-8 (10-2 SoCon) | Buccaneers 3-12 (1-7 SoCon)
Series: Samford leads 9-6
Location | Time: Pete Hanna Center | 12 PM
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HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bucs opened the game hitting four of their first eight shots, including seven points from freshman guard Carly Hooks, to take a 9-3 lead at the 4:58 media timeout.
• Samford roared back to cut the deficit to two, 17-15, at the end of the 1^st quarter behind eight points and three rebounds from Natalie Armstrong.
• The Bulldogs took their first lead of the 2^nd quarter, 18-15, on Andrea Cournoyer's 23-foot 3-pointer with 9:12 on the clock.
• Samford built a five-point edge, 30-25, over the next 5:35.
• The Bulldogs closed out the half, outscoring ETSU 21-14 in the 2^nd quarter, to take a 36-31 halftime lead into the locker room.
• Natalie Armstrong led Samford and all scorers with 12 points at the break. Cournoyer added seven points and Annie Ramil chipped in four points. Hooks paced ETSU with 10 points.
• Samford shot 50 percent (13-26) from the floor in the first half, including 63.6 percent (7-11) in the 2^nd. ETSU finished the half hitting 14-of-30 attempts from the floor for 46.7 percent.
• A quick 11-0 run to start the 3^rd quarter, including a 3-pointer from Mallory Hampton, extended Samford's lead to 16, 47-31, with 5:46 left in the period.
• Hooks finally ended the scoring drought for ETSU with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 5:16 left In the 3^rd period.
• Samford extended its lead to 20, 54-34, with 2:11 left in the 3^rd on a driving layup by Katie Allen.
• Hooks connected on another deep 3-pointer for ETSU's second field goal of the 3^rd with 1:48 remaining.
• The Bulldogs led 59-41 at the end of the 3^rd. SU outscored ETSU 23-10 in the frame.
• ETSU answered the horn in the 4^th, opening with a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 61-48 with 5:13 to play.
• The Bulldogs salted away the final minutes to for the 77-58 victory.           

TURNING POINT

• Samford outscored ETSU 23-10 in the 3^rd quarter to build an 18-point advantage going into the final period.

STAT OF THE GAME

• The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Bucs 46-32 with a commanding 35-18 edge on the defensive glass.

 
NOTABLES

• Natalie Armstrong turned in a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
• Andrea Cournoyer, the SoCon's leading scorer, finished with 17 points.
• Seniors Katie Allen (8), Raven Omar (5), Makaila Woolard (4), and Armstrong (21) combined to score 38 points on Senior Day.
• ETSU's Carly Hooks led the Bucs with 16 points while Jakhyia Davis joined her in double figures with 15.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Prior to the game, coach Carley Kuhns and Samford women's basketball honored its five seniors - Katie Allen, Natalie Armstrong, Shauntai Battle, Raven Omar and Makaila Woolard.
• Samford head coach Carley Kuhns served as an assistant coach on Brittney Ezell's staff when the two were at Belmont.
• Samford players currently lead the Southern Conference in several statistical categories. Samford players lead the SoCon in scoring (Andrea Cournoyer), assists (Raven Omar), free throw percentage (Cournoyer), steals (Cournoyer), 3-point percentage (Katie Allen), 3-pointers made per game (Cournoyer) and blocked shots (Natalie Armstrong).
• Entering the ETSU game, Samford, as a team, leads the Southern Conference in scoring (69.3 ppg.), field goal percentage (.443), three-point field goal percentage (.356) and three-pointers made per game (7.2).

 
UP NEXT

• A second-straight Southern Conference regular season championship is on the line for the Bulldogs and coach Carley Kuhns on Thursday, Feb. 25, as Samford travels to Macon, Ga., to face Mercer. Tipoff is set for 6 PM at Hawkins Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.