BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – To close out a brief road trip to North Carolina, the Samford women's basketball heads to Cullowhee for a curial Southern Conference contest with the Western Carolina Catamounts. 
  
The SoCon showdown between the Bulldogs and Catamounts is scheduled for 4 pm CT and the game can be streamed on ESPN+. Samford game notes can be found here. 
  
Samford brings a 12-11 overall record to the weekend matchup while being 6-2 in SoCon play following a 75-68 win over UNCG behind a career-high 22 points from Sussy Ngulefac. Western Carolina enters to game at 9-14 and 2-6 in the league
  
The Bulldogs and Catamounts are meeting for the 33rd time in series history. Samford leads the all-time series 28-4. The Bulldogs have 19 straight meetings dating back to 2014. The last time the two squads met, Andrea Bailey scored 22 points to help Samford secure a 1-0 start to SoCon play on Jan. 5, 2023. 
 
The Samford starting lineup has experienced a youth movement since the start of SoCon play with freshman Masyn Marchbanks and redshirt freshman Carly Heidger claiming starting roles. Since being named the starter, Marchbanks is averaging 16.5 points per game, while Heidger is averaging 19.5 over her pair of starts.
 
Redshirt freshman Carly Heidger has been the impactful Bulldog off the bench this season appearing in all but one game. Heidger leads all Bulldog reserves by averaging 7.4 points per game. Since the start of conference play, the forward is Samford's third-leading scorer averaging 11.6 points per game with 4.9 rebounds. In her first career start, Heidger scored 23 points against Wofford, which is the most by a freshman in the Kuhns era.
 
Bailey is once again playing at a SoCon Player of the Year level Bailey is averaging 18.1 points per game, which ranks first in the SoCon and 37th nationally. The second closest leading in the SoCon is averaging 15.9 points. The senior also ranks Top 30 nationally in field goal attempts (16th/345), field goals (27th/153), points (28th/417), steals (6th/73) and steals per game (8th/3.17)
 
Entering the Western Carolina game, Samford is 10-3 on the year when the Bulldogs score at least 65 points.
  
Since arriving on campus before the 2019-20 season, coach Kuhns and the Bulldogs are 34-15 in SoCon play overall and 18-4 against SoCon opponents at home.
  
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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).