S-Club Profile: Hannah Dawson Ingram
11.25.22 | General, Women's Basketball
By: Joey Mullins
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Today, we continue our series named the S-Club Profile, focusing on former student-athletes and giving updates on what they have been up to since finishing their Samford playing careers. In this month's edition, we highlight former women's basketball standout Hannah Dawson Ingram.
Ingram played on the Samford women's basketball team from 2009 to 2013. She reflected on her recruitment to Samford.
"It's a funny story," Ingram said. "When I got the letter asking me to come visit, I told my mom, 'I'll never go to Samford, I'm not going to do that.' And my mom said, 'no, you are going to go, you are going to go to the visit. And after the visit if you don't think it's for you, that's fine, but you're not just going to say no.' So, we went and the minute I stepped on campus, it just felt like home."
Ingram fell in love with Samford right away. She talked about some of the factors that attracted her to the school.
"It's a beautiful campus and then I went and met everybody and just the environment that it was, it felt like somewhere that I wanted to be," Ingram said. "The team was so welcoming, and I knew I wanted to go somewhere that I could play basketball, but I also knew that basketball wasn't going to be my forever and I wanted to get a good education and I just felt like that was the perfect fit for me for that."
In her first season at Samford, the Bulldogs posted a then-school record of 23 wins, finishing with a record of 23-11 overall and 14-6 in Southern Conference play. Samford reached the finals of the SoCon Tournament before falling to rival Chattanooga, 72-67 in the championship game.
The team then earned a bid to the WNIT, where the Bulldogs hosted Ole Miss in the first round, earning a 66-65 win over the Rebels. The Bulldogs then fell at Missouri State in the second round, but the team had accomplished something no other Samford women's basketball team had in reaching the program's first national postseason tournament.
In her sophomore season in 2010-11, Ingram and the Bulldogs were one of the favorites to win the Southern Conference Tournament. The team set a school record that still stands today with a 25-8 overall record, going 15-5 in SoCon play.
The team entered the 2011 SoCon Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The team earned wins over Western Carolina and host Chattanooga in overtime to reach the finals for a second-straight season. In the championship game, the Bulldogs earned a dramatic, 57-54 win over top-seeded and regular-season champion Appalachian State. The win gave Samford its first SoCon Tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid, where the Bulldogs faced Florida State. Ingram said she vividly remembers the emotions of winning the SoCon title and playing in the NCAA Tournament.
"If I see those photos, those memories come pouring back in," Ingram said. "It was definitely one of the highlights of my entire basketball career. Being able to finally get to that point of winning such a big game and a big tournament and just doing it with the people I did it with are memories that I will never forget. I still feel those emotions of when that buzzer went off and running and jumping and hugging. Those are memories and emotions that I'll never forget. I'm so grateful that I was able to have that opportunity."
The following season, Ingram's junior campaign, team leaders Emily London and Savannah Hill had graduated, and few people gave the Bulldogs a chance to win another championship. The team, however, believed it could win again, and the Bulldogs finished with a 20-13 overall record, going 12-8 in SoCon play. Samford swept through the SoCon Tournament, winning each game by double digits, including a 54-43 win over Appalachian State in the championship game. The team went to the NCAA Tournament again that season, facing Duke. Ingram said that second championship is special to her.
"We were definitely the underdogs that year," Ingram said. "It was kind of funny, after winning that year before, we thought we'd have a little bit of hope, but no, everyone had us as the underdog. Both of them (the championships) are so special, and I love Emily and Savannah and I'm so grateful for what we had, but I think the second one may have been a little bit more meaningful because we were the underdog, and no one thought we could do it without them."
Ingram graduated from Samford in 2013 with a degree in nursing. She then moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and went to work at a hospital there in labor and delivery. She worked there for eight years, leaving about a year ago. She now works at a crisis pregnancy center. She also went back to school in 2020 and will graduate next month from Middle Tennessee State University with her master's for Family Nurse Practitioner.
Ingram was working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic. She talked about the experience of working in the healthcare field during the pandemic.
"That was interesting," Ingram said. "It helped being in labor and delivery at the time, I think labor and delivery was a better area to be in because I didn't have to deal with the depth of COVID as I would have in another unit. So, it had its moments, it was always up in the air what was really going on, what was happening. But we survived. I started school in 2020, the pandemic happened, and I had my son the day after everything shut down. And then after that I went on maternity leave with him and then went back to work in the hospital for another year and a half. It was interesting, I definitely was glad to get out of the hospital aspect because of it as well."
In addition to her career as a nurse, Ingram and her husband, Eric, own a fitness, kickboxing, martial arts and CrossFit gym in Bartlett, Tennessee. She talked about how that experience has been as she works as a nurse and raises the couple's children.
"He (Eric) actually has been in martial arts forever," Ingram said. "He opened his own business in 2009 and over the years we've kind of added to it. We have a lot of members, we have people who go and compete in jiu jitsu and compete in CrossFit and then we have just every-day people who want to be fit and come in and do fitness kickoffs, so it is a fun way to still have that athletic aspect in my life. It's just a fun way for us to get to know new people, to share our passion and be able to minister to people through that."
Looking back on her time at Samford, Ingram said the time she spent with her teammates were her favorite memories.
"I think the road trips," Ingram said of her favorite times at Samford. "I look back at the times on the buses and in the hotels and it just being us and I still have friendships from our team I know will last forever. We still hang out, we go to each other's weddings, we go on trips, and those friendships were made on those trips. I still have memories of those that I still laugh about today. I am just grateful for the friendships, we went through so many ups and downs with the blood, sweat and tears that were put on that court, and it was all worth it because of the people I was doing it with."
Nearly a decade after her time at Samford ended, Ingram still ranks in the top 10 in program history in scoring, rebounds, three-pointers made, three-pointers attempted, field goals made, field goals attempted and games played, and she still holds the program record for games started with 125. Though her numbers and accomplishments on the court are impressive, she has gone on to make all of us who were involved in and around the program at that time proud of her accomplishments, both professionally and personally since graduating.
For more information on the S-Club and for giving opportunities, please contact E.J. Brophy at wbrophy@samford.edu.
Gallery: (11-25-2022) S-Club Profile: Hannah Dawson Ingram
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Today, we continue our series named the S-Club Profile, focusing on former student-athletes and giving updates on what they have been up to since finishing their Samford playing careers. In this month's edition, we highlight former women's basketball standout Hannah Dawson Ingram.
Ingram played on the Samford women's basketball team from 2009 to 2013. She reflected on her recruitment to Samford.
"It's a funny story," Ingram said. "When I got the letter asking me to come visit, I told my mom, 'I'll never go to Samford, I'm not going to do that.' And my mom said, 'no, you are going to go, you are going to go to the visit. And after the visit if you don't think it's for you, that's fine, but you're not just going to say no.' So, we went and the minute I stepped on campus, it just felt like home."
Ingram fell in love with Samford right away. She talked about some of the factors that attracted her to the school.
"It's a beautiful campus and then I went and met everybody and just the environment that it was, it felt like somewhere that I wanted to be," Ingram said. "The team was so welcoming, and I knew I wanted to go somewhere that I could play basketball, but I also knew that basketball wasn't going to be my forever and I wanted to get a good education and I just felt like that was the perfect fit for me for that."
In her first season at Samford, the Bulldogs posted a then-school record of 23 wins, finishing with a record of 23-11 overall and 14-6 in Southern Conference play. Samford reached the finals of the SoCon Tournament before falling to rival Chattanooga, 72-67 in the championship game.
The team then earned a bid to the WNIT, where the Bulldogs hosted Ole Miss in the first round, earning a 66-65 win over the Rebels. The Bulldogs then fell at Missouri State in the second round, but the team had accomplished something no other Samford women's basketball team had in reaching the program's first national postseason tournament.
In her sophomore season in 2010-11, Ingram and the Bulldogs were one of the favorites to win the Southern Conference Tournament. The team set a school record that still stands today with a 25-8 overall record, going 15-5 in SoCon play.
The team entered the 2011 SoCon Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The team earned wins over Western Carolina and host Chattanooga in overtime to reach the finals for a second-straight season. In the championship game, the Bulldogs earned a dramatic, 57-54 win over top-seeded and regular-season champion Appalachian State. The win gave Samford its first SoCon Tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid, where the Bulldogs faced Florida State. Ingram said she vividly remembers the emotions of winning the SoCon title and playing in the NCAA Tournament.
"If I see those photos, those memories come pouring back in," Ingram said. "It was definitely one of the highlights of my entire basketball career. Being able to finally get to that point of winning such a big game and a big tournament and just doing it with the people I did it with are memories that I will never forget. I still feel those emotions of when that buzzer went off and running and jumping and hugging. Those are memories and emotions that I'll never forget. I'm so grateful that I was able to have that opportunity."
The following season, Ingram's junior campaign, team leaders Emily London and Savannah Hill had graduated, and few people gave the Bulldogs a chance to win another championship. The team, however, believed it could win again, and the Bulldogs finished with a 20-13 overall record, going 12-8 in SoCon play. Samford swept through the SoCon Tournament, winning each game by double digits, including a 54-43 win over Appalachian State in the championship game. The team went to the NCAA Tournament again that season, facing Duke. Ingram said that second championship is special to her.
"We were definitely the underdogs that year," Ingram said. "It was kind of funny, after winning that year before, we thought we'd have a little bit of hope, but no, everyone had us as the underdog. Both of them (the championships) are so special, and I love Emily and Savannah and I'm so grateful for what we had, but I think the second one may have been a little bit more meaningful because we were the underdog, and no one thought we could do it without them."
Ingram graduated from Samford in 2013 with a degree in nursing. She then moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and went to work at a hospital there in labor and delivery. She worked there for eight years, leaving about a year ago. She now works at a crisis pregnancy center. She also went back to school in 2020 and will graduate next month from Middle Tennessee State University with her master's for Family Nurse Practitioner.
Ingram was working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic. She talked about the experience of working in the healthcare field during the pandemic.
"That was interesting," Ingram said. "It helped being in labor and delivery at the time, I think labor and delivery was a better area to be in because I didn't have to deal with the depth of COVID as I would have in another unit. So, it had its moments, it was always up in the air what was really going on, what was happening. But we survived. I started school in 2020, the pandemic happened, and I had my son the day after everything shut down. And then after that I went on maternity leave with him and then went back to work in the hospital for another year and a half. It was interesting, I definitely was glad to get out of the hospital aspect because of it as well."
In addition to her career as a nurse, Ingram and her husband, Eric, own a fitness, kickboxing, martial arts and CrossFit gym in Bartlett, Tennessee. She talked about how that experience has been as she works as a nurse and raises the couple's children.
"He (Eric) actually has been in martial arts forever," Ingram said. "He opened his own business in 2009 and over the years we've kind of added to it. We have a lot of members, we have people who go and compete in jiu jitsu and compete in CrossFit and then we have just every-day people who want to be fit and come in and do fitness kickoffs, so it is a fun way to still have that athletic aspect in my life. It's just a fun way for us to get to know new people, to share our passion and be able to minister to people through that."
Looking back on her time at Samford, Ingram said the time she spent with her teammates were her favorite memories.
"I think the road trips," Ingram said of her favorite times at Samford. "I look back at the times on the buses and in the hotels and it just being us and I still have friendships from our team I know will last forever. We still hang out, we go to each other's weddings, we go on trips, and those friendships were made on those trips. I still have memories of those that I still laugh about today. I am just grateful for the friendships, we went through so many ups and downs with the blood, sweat and tears that were put on that court, and it was all worth it because of the people I was doing it with."
Nearly a decade after her time at Samford ended, Ingram still ranks in the top 10 in program history in scoring, rebounds, three-pointers made, three-pointers attempted, field goals made, field goals attempted and games played, and she still holds the program record for games started with 125. Though her numbers and accomplishments on the court are impressive, she has gone on to make all of us who were involved in and around the program at that time proud of her accomplishments, both professionally and personally since graduating.
For more information on the S-Club and for giving opportunities, please contact E.J. Brophy at wbrophy@samford.edu.
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