Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball continues its three-game homestand (11-9, 1-4 SoCon) in the Ramsey Center on Thursday evening, hosting the Samford Bulldogs (6-15, 1-4 SoCon) Thursday (Jan .30) night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. as the Catamounts look to "Purple Out" the competition with free pom poms given out to fans, courtesy of Rodgers Brothers.
Thursday's game will be available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with a free live audio broadcast available through the Catamount Sports Network and live stats online at CatamountSports.com.
Thursday's Women's Basketball Matchup:
Western Carolina (11-9, 1-4 SoCon) vs. Samford (6-15, 1-4 SoCon)
Jan. 30, 2025 | Ramsey Center | Cullowhee, N.C. | 6 p.m.
Watch (ESPN+): https://tinyurl.com/y44r4wry
Listen (CSN): https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wcu/
Live Stats: https://catamountsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
Tickets: https://catamountsports.com/buytickets
Full Court Press:
The Catamounts and Bulldogs have only met 35 times on the women's basketball hardwood, a relatively young series in comparison to WCU's other Southern Conference foes. The series began in 2009 with WCU trailing 4-31 all-time. Two of WCU's four wins have come in Cullowhee, though the most recent Catamount victory came in the 2014 season. Samford took both of last season's matchups, including a 72-57 decision in Cullowhee.
The two teams played only one common opponent in the nonconference schedule, both squads facing off with the Tennessee Volunteers. Samford made the trip to Knoxville to open their season, falling 101-53 to the SEC foe with the Catamount matchup finishing similarly with WCU falling 102-50 on the road in late November.
Both teams have already faced Wofford, Furman, Chattanooga, and ETSU in conference play and are 1-3 against those opponents. The Catamounts defeated ETSU at home 64-60, while the Bulldogs fell to the Bucs 69-48 on the road. Samford took down the Paladins 77-62 at home but the Catamounts fell 82-73 in Greenville.
Players to Watch:
AC Carter led the Catamounts offensively last time out in their home loss to UNC Greensboro, racking up a game-high 19 points on an efficient 8-for-10 performance from the field. She also went 2-for-3 from deep in the matchup, her first time connecting on more than one 3-pointer since the Catamount victory over West Georgia. She leads the conference in points per game, averaging 14.6, and is one of three Catamounts to lead the conference in a major statistical category.
The other two are Jada Burton and Tyja Beans, who lead the conference in assists per game (5.2) and rebounds (8.9), respectively. Additionally, Burton is the only player in the conference to record a triple-double this season and Beans leads the conference in double-doubles with seven. Beans ranks second in the SoCon in field goal percentage (55.5%) and fifth in scoring (12.4 ppg).
Samford is led statistically by Emily Bowman who averages 11.6 points per game and is second in the SoCon with six double-doubles this season. However, the 6-5 center has not appeared in a game for the Bulldogs since their 81-66 home loss to Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 29. In her absence, the Bulldogs have been outrebounded in four of six games, beating only Berry College on the glass and tying Chattanooga with 29.
Additionally, without Bowman in the lineup, Samford has relied on a younger lineup, starting four underclassmen in their home win over Furman and loss to Wofford. The sole exception to this is graduate student Annie Ramil, who is one of two Bulldogs to start all 21 games this season. The other Bulldog to start all of Samford's games this season is Kennedy Langham, who averages 11.0 points per game so far.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
WCU remains at home to host the Mercer Bears in the first half of a Catamount hoops doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 1. Tip with Mercer is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the Catamounts looking to "Pack the RAC" and celebrate EBCI day. Saturday will also be the annual Pink Game for the Catamounts before they again hit the road to start the wrap-back through the SoCon with a trip to ETSU (Feb. 8) and Chattanooga (Feb. 10).
