Samford women’s basketball has dropped two straight games after starting the season with four consecutive wins. After a difficult offseason in which the Bulldogs lost their leading scorer, Andrea Bailey, sophomore guard Masyn Marchbanks has stepped up to be a vital piece in the team’s success.
“I learned a lot from Ace (Bailey) my freshman year. I knew this year I could add to this team by bringing my experience from last year and my natural ability to lead,” Marchbanks said.
Samford started their season against Auburn-Montgomery, where they broke the attendance record for a women’s basketball game with 1,621 fans. A 78-51 win sent the fans home happy and was an ideal start to the 2023 season.
In their next performance, the Bulldogs played Central Arkansas. In a close game, the Bulldogs beat the Bears 65-62 with a stellar performance from Marchbanks, who led the team with 24 points. Head Coach Carley Kuhns is excited about what these wins mean for Samford women’s basketball.
“To have so many new players for us to get a tough, gritty win is huge for our program,” Kuhns said.
In the Bulldogs’ next game, they traveled south to play Troy, where the Bulldogs won 65-61, receiving immense contributions from Marchbanks, redshirt sophomore guard Carly Heidger and grad transfer Lexie Pritchard.
Samford next put on an impressive defensive performance in a 69-47 victory over Alabama State. Heidger recorded three blocks, and Sadie Stetson, another grad transfer guard, recorded three steals, pacing a staunch defensive effort that forced low-percentage shots from the visiting Hornets.
Samford then traveled down to Hattiesburg, Mississippi for the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by Southern Miss. This tournament is where the Bulldogs’ winning streak ended, as back-to-back losses against North Texas and Southern Miss have caused Samford to slide to 4-2. UNT soundly beat Samford 71-59, and the following matchup against Southern Miss was even worse.
The Bulldogs faced offensive struggles the entire game, only scoring 33 points. The game was headlined by the third quarter, in which Southern Miss outscored Samford 19-3. Samford failed to score in double digits in the second, third, and fourth quarters, and leading scorer for the game Heidger scored under ten points.
The Lady Bulldogs will look to bounce back from the two straight losses in their next game against USC Upstate on Nov. 30, where there will be a jersey giveaway. The game against the Spartans is followed by another home game against Jacksonville State on Dec. 3, another in-state rival hungry to knock off Samford in the Pete Hanna Center.
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