CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball hits the road for the first in nearly a month as the Catamounts trek to Alabama on Thursday night to battle Samford from the Pete Hanna Center with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT. Thursday's action will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Western Carolina (5-12, 0-2 SoCon) at Samford (8-9, 0-2 SoCon)
Date: Thursday, January 18
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Site: Pete Hanna Center (Birmingham, Ala.)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Live Video: Watch ESPN
Twitter: @CatamountWBB
GAME NOTES
Western Carolina continues SoCon play on Thursday after suffering a 75-56 defeat against Wofford in Cullowhee last Saturday. In the contest, senior Mya Love poured in a season-high 15 points and Chelsea Wooten added 11 points, but the Catamounts could not overcome 12 3-pointers from the Terriers in the setback.
Wooten maintains her lead in the conference with 42 made threes as the lone player to eclipse 40 3-pointers this season. She's also connecting on a league-best 2.6 threes per game. Jada Burton ranks third in the SoCon with 65 assists for the Spartanburg, S.C. native, while also ranking fifth in steals with 24. As a team, WCU ranks second in the conference in assists with 241 helpers, led by Burton's 65.
In SoCon play, Mya Love sits in a tie for eighth averaging 13.5 points per game. Love scored 12 points against Furman and a tallied season-high 15 points on Saturday against Wofford.
Samford comes into its home SoCon opener with an 8-9 mark after falling at ETSU and Chattanooga to open league play last week. The Bulldogs have defended their home court by going 7-1 on the year, but are 1-8 away from Birmingham.
Carly Heidger leads Samford on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 10.6 points per game, as she's connected on 50% of her field goals. Heidger has scored in double figures nine times including a season-high 20 against Cumberland (Tenn.). Masyn Marchbanks and Sadie Stetson lead the Bulldogs from deep as Marchbanks has 32 triples, and Stetson leads the way with 38 3-pointers. Emily Bowman paces Samford on the defensive end with 141 rebounds, averaging 8.3 per game and a conference-best 45 blocks to her stat line. Bowman's rebounding performance also puts her third in the league in rebounds per game this season.
The Bulldogs finished 13-17 a season ago with a 7-7 conference record as Samford fell to ETSU in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament last year. Samford was picked seventh in the coaches poll and fifth in the media poll under the leadership of Carley Kuhns, who's in her fifth year leading Samford. Before the start of the 2023-24 season, Masyn Marchbanks was named to the league's preseason all-conference team.
Samford holds a 29-4 edge in the all-time series against WCU as the Bulldogs claimed both meetings from the Catamounts a season ago. WCU is looking to break a skid of 20 straight games with Western Carolina's last win over the Bulldogs coming in Cullowhee during the 2013-14 season. WCU is also looking to tally its second head-to-head win over the Bulldogs in Birmingham and its first since February 2009. Mya Love poured in team-highs of 19 points in Cullowhee and 15 points in Birmingham a season ago.
Following Thursday's contest in Birmingham, the Catamounts continue league play, making the trip over to the Peach State to battle Mercer on Sat., January 20, from Hawkins Arena in Macon. Mercer sits at 6-12 after dropping both games to begin SoCon play as the Bears host UNCG on Thursday before welcoming in WCU. The matchup with Mercer will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, Catamountwbb).
