GAME NOTES--SAMFORD VS. AUM (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team will open the 2023-24 season by hosting the Auburn-Montgomery (AUM) Warhawks for an Education Day game Monday at 11 a.m. in the Pete Hanna Center.
For the Education Day, snacks will be provided for students, along with a goodie bag, and coloring and educational booklets. There will be fun initiatives and in-game activities for students. The team will also host a meet-and-greet autograph signing for the students after the game.
The Bulldogs and Warhawks are meeting for the sixth time in the history of the programs, with Samford leads the all-time series, 5-0. The teams last met on Dec. 9, 2017, with Samford earning a 59-46 victory over AUM.
The Bulldogs welcome six new players to the 2023-24 roster. Transfers Lexie Pritchard (Santa Clara Univ.), Jada Knight (Butler CC) and Sadie Stetson (American Univ.) are joined by freshmen Kennedy Langham (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman HS), Aubrey Blankenship (Mt. Juliet, Tenn./Green Hill HS) and Alonya Waldon (Melbourne, Fla./Palm Bay HS) as the newcomers to this year's squad.
Sophomore guard Masyn Marchbanks was Samford's lone representative on the preseason All-Southern Conference team. As a freshman in 2022-23, Marchbanks was third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.7 points per game. She scored in double figures 12 times last season, including a career-high 22 points against both Mercer and Furman. Alyssa Tarpley also returns as a sophomore after starting all 30 games as a freshman in 2022-23. Tarpley averaged 4.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game a season ago. She also made 35 three-pointers last season, the second-highest total on the team. Carly Heidger is another key returnee for the Bulldogs this season. Heidger played in 29 games, averaging 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last season.
Last season, Samford led the Southern Conference in field goal percentage (.437), assists (13.7 apg.) and defensive rebounds (25.7 pg.), and the Bulldogs ranked second in the SoCon in scoring (65.6 ppg.), three-point field goal percentage (.331) and steals (7.5 spg.).
Auburn-Montgomery posted a record of 7-21 overall and 6-18 in Gulf South Conference play last season. The Warhawks return their top three scorers from last season's team. Leading scorer Allasha Dudley (13.6 ppg.), as well as Jemeriah Moore (11.3 ppg.) and Kamya Hollingshead (9.8 ppg.) return after being the top three scorers a year ago. AUM head coach Jon Plefka is in his first season in charge of the Warhawks' program. He spent the last five seasons as head coach at Post University, posting a record of 84-55.
Admission to Monday's game is FREE. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ or follow online via live stats. For links to follow all of Samford's games this season, click here: WBB SCHEDULE.
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).
