Nov. 27, 2008

Women's Basketball Game Notes In PDF Format

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team will play host to the Samford/UAB Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday at the Pete Hanna Center. Joining Samford and UAB for the event are McNeese State and Evansville.

On Friday, UAB will open the classic by taking on Evansville at 5 p.m. Samford will then meet McNeese State at 7 p.m. On Saturday, UAB and McNeese State will meet at 2 p.m. and Samford will take on Evansville at 4 p.m.

Samford enters the weekend with a record of 4-0. The start ties the 2004-05 team for the best start in program history. Samford has wins over Jacksonville State (68-55), Alabama (61-55 in OT), New Orleans (58-46) and Lipscomb (62-48).

UAB is currently 1-3 on the season. The Blazers opened the season with a win over Stetson (73-58) and have since fallen to South Alabama (77-64), Charlotte (79-57) and Auburn (91-62).

McNeese State has a record of 2-3. The Cowgirls fell in road games to New Orleans (70-65), Tulsa (58-56) and Oklahoma State (89-56), before rebounding with home wins over Arkansas-Monticello (89-57) and Houston Baptist (71-63).

Evansville enters the tournament with a record of 2-1. The Purple Aces won home games against East Tennessee (83-73) and Wright State (63-59), and fell on the road at Notre Dame (96-61).

Samford's games against McNeese State and Evansville will be the Bulldogs' first meeting with both programs.

Sophomore forward Savannah Hill currently leads Samford in both scoring (12.8 ppg.) and rebounding (5.0 rpg.). Senior guard Karmen Smith is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points per game.

Behind Hill in rebounding, senior forward Chika Okoli ranks second with an average of 4.8 boards per contest.

Sophomore guard Emily London is the team-leader in assists, dishing out 3.5 assists per game. Hill is second on the squad in assists with an average of 2.3 per game.

Following this weekend's tournament, Samford will open Southern Conference play on Monday, Dec. 1, when the Bulldogs play at preseason conference favorite Chattanooga. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. Central start from Chattanooga, Tenn.