Samford Women’s Basketball Opens Season By Hosting Troy

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Year four of the Carly Kuhns era gets under on Monday afternoon as the Samford women's basketball team opens the 2022-23 campaign by hosting the Troy Trojans at the Pete Hanna Center.

Tipoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. CT with the game streaming on ESPN+. Curt Bloom, Katie Allen and Lindsey Cagle will be on the call. Samford's game notes can be found here.

The Bulldogs and the Trojans are meeting for the 24th time in program history with Troy holding a 13-9 lead in the all-time series. Troy has won the last three meetings dating back to 2018. The last time Samford beat Troy at home was on Dec. 17, 2017, when Hannah Nichols score 27 points in an 80-73 victory.

Senior guard Andrea Cournoyer returns to anchor a Samford lineup that features a unique blend of returners and newcomers. The Merryville, La., native, played in 30 games for the Bulldogs en route to being named to the 2021-22 All-SoCon First Team. Cournoyer averaged 16.3 points per game while contributing 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Cournoyer was one of the two Bulldogs named to the 2022-23 Preseason All-SoCon Team.

Joining Cournoyer, on the 2022-23 Preseason All-SoCon Team is sophomore center Sussy Ngulefac. Ngulefac, the Co-Freshman of the Year in 2021-22, shoot 63.9% from the floor to lead the SoCon. The Lilburn, Ga. native ranked second on the team averaging 9.5 points per contest and 4.5 boards per game while scoring in double-figures 16 times.

Kathleen Wheeler returns after showing major improvement last year and looks to have a bigger role this season. Other returning players who saw time last year are Kiersten Nelson and Mattie Hatcher. Players who return after redshirting last season include Carly Heidger, Nicole Azar and Emily Bowman. Three transfers were added in the offseason in Macey Lee (North Alabama), Cydney Rivera (Pepperdine) and Rylie Stephens (Evansville).

A pair of true freshmen have also joined the team for this season. Masyn Marchbanks (Hartselle, Ala.) and Alyssa Tarpley (Gunter, Texas), both look to make an impact in their first collegiate seasons.

Carley Kuhns enters her fourth season as head coach of Samford Women's Basketball. What she did in her first two seasons is remarkable, as the Bulldogs have captured back-to-back Southern Conference regular season championships including the 2019-20 SoCon Tournament title. Kuhns enters the season with a 45-42 record at Samford looking to lead the Bulldogs back to championship glory

The Troy Trojans claimed a regular season Sun Belt Conference title in 2021-22 by going 24-9 overall with a 13-2 mark in SBC play. Troy was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt with guard Felmas Koranga being named Preseason Player of the Player as voted on by the coaches.

Tickets for each game this season are available at the following link: SAMFORD TICKETS.

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 /SamfordWomensBasketball (Facebook), @SamfordWBB (Instagram) and @SamfordWBB (Twitter).

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