As basketball season approaches, the Lady Bulldogs are looking to make a statement this season.
After an arduous 2021-22 season, Samford Women’s Basketball ended with a record of 13-17 overall and 7-7 in the conference. In the SoCon Tournament in Asheville, NC, the Bulldogs’ season ended with a 65-35 loss to Mercer in the semifinals.
Coach Carley Kuhns enters her 4th season as the Women’s Basketball head coach. After her third season in charge, Coach Kuhns has amassed an impressive record of 28-13 in SOCON play, a stat that will hopefully continue to improve this season.
In an interview with Coach Kuhns, she talked about one of the goals of the season is for the team “to be more competitive in the nonconference games before conference play begins” She wants to “get the team to be firing on all cylinders and get into top form to be ready to fight for the Socon Championship and to reach the NCAA tournament.”
One of the things that Coach Kuhns mentioned will help the team is “the home advantage and a great turnout from fans last year really showed that home court advantage is a true thing.”
The team had three seniors graduate last year: Natalie Armstrong, Olivia Ramil, and Shauntai Battle. Armstrong and Battle were in the top five on the team for points scored last season, and Ramil was in the top five in blocks.
Incoming freshmen Masyn Marchbanks and Alyssa Tarpley should help alleviate the loss of the seniors, as they are joining the Lady Bulldogs for the 2022-23 season. The guards will look to help the team in their quest for their third SoCon championship.
Senior Andrea Cournoyer looks to continue starring for the Lady Bulldogs. Cournoyer led the team in points last season with 488 points and16.3 points per game. She also averaged 2.4 assists per game and 4.5 rebounds.
Samford is scheduled to play several nonconference opponents before SoCon play begins. They will face Vanderbilt, Troy, Alabama A&M, Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville Southern, Nebraska, and Auburn before conference play begins against Western Carolina University on January 5th at Samford.
The Lady Bulldogs will open the season on November 7th when they face the Troy Trojans in the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham.
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