Armstrong Shines in Final Home Game, Samford Sinks ETSU 77-58

The Bulldogs (13-7, 10-2 SOCON) shined this afternoon during their final home game of the 2020-21 campaign as they defeated the 8th place Buccaneers of ETSU (3-12, 1-7 SOCON) 77-58. Ten Bulldogs saw time on the floor and nine of them contributed to the final score with the big 3 of Armstrong (21 points and 14 rebounds), Cournoyer (17 points and 4 assists), and Ramil (9 points and 7 rebounds) leading the charge. The game got off to a slow start for the Bulldogs as they went nearly 5:30 between made field goals. However, once Samford made that second basket, they kept pace with ETSU, finding themselves down a bucket at the end of the first 10 minutes. Samford then shot the lights out for the next two periods (66.67% FG% in the 2nd and 63.64% FG% in the 3rd), pushing the lead out to 18 entering the final period. Fun note for Senior Day: every healthy senior scored as Katie Allen scored 8, Raven Omar scored 5, Makaila Woolard tacked on 4, and Natalie Armstrong scored the game high 21 points. The 5th senior, Shauntai Battle did not play as she suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the season against UT Martin.

ETSU forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over early and often with 11 steals on the day, resulting in 17 points off of the turnovers. Samford reached into the cookie jar five times and was rewarded with eight points coming directly from these steals. The biggest team factor that led to the Samford victory was the utter domination of the paint and the glass. Samford scored 38 points from beneath the basket (12 more than ETSU's total) and pulled down the second most rebounds of the season with 46 (Samford won the rebounding battle with a +14 margin).

Natalie Armstrong put together a complete game today against the Buccaneers on both ends of the floor. Armstrong was red hot on the day, shooting 64.3% from the field, nocking down 1-2 shots from beyond the arc, recording 3 blocks, and pulling down 14 rebounds, resulting in her first double-double of the calendar year and her first since New Year's Eave when the Bulldogs hosted UAH. All year, teams have come into games with game plans aimed at limiting the Samford Center. This is what has allowed Juniors Cournoyer and Ramil to thrive in their first years as starters.

Samford will be back in action this Thursday as they wrap up the regular season in Macon, GA as they (possibly) battle for the top seed for Asheville, NC. For more on today's game, including video highlights and Coach Kuhns' post game remarks, visit SamfordSports.com and follow the team on Twitter: @SamfordWBB

Photo taken by Chase Cochran