GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women's basketball team (8-8, 0-1 SoCon) has a quick turn around following Thursday night's 86-78 overtime loss to Mercer (11-5, 1-0 SoCon) in the Southern Conference season opener when they welcome Samford (9-7, 1-0 SoCon) to Fleming Gymnasium Saturday, January 9, at 2 p.m. The Spartans had their three-game win-streak snapped after rallying from an 11-point decifict to force overtime against the Bears. Samford opened SoCon play as well on Thursday where the Bulldogs defeated Western Carolina (4-11, 0-1 SoCon) 59-42 in Cullowhee.
UNCG leads the SoCon in scoring offense with 68.6 points per game while Samford ranks seventh with 54.2 points per game. The Spartans are paced by senior guard Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) who leads the SoCon with 24.3 points per game. Mason's 24.3 points per game also rank her third in the nation. During her career, she's averaging 15.8 points per game against the Bulldogs in six games.
Jade Scaife (Fort Washington, Md./Archbishop Spalding) is averaging 10.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game through the Spartans last five outings. She's third on the team this season with 9.5 points per game and is tied for a team-best three double-doubles. India Timpton (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) also has three double-doubles this season and leades the team with 7.6 rebounds per game.
The Spartans are second in the league in steals per game with 9.6 while Samford is sixth with 6.9 spg. On the boards UNCG is averaging 40.9 rebounds per game, 15.8 of which are offensive.
The Spartans rank second in the nation in free throw attempts (401) and are third in free throws made (272). With Samford's 15.0 personal fouls per game, there's a good chance UNCG will make quite a few trips to the charity stripe in Saturday's game. The Spartans are averaging 67.8 percent on free throws this season and 68.8 percent through their last five games.
Samford is currently third in the league with a 9-7 overall record. The Bulldogs are 5-5 on the road this season and 1-0 in SoCon action following Thurday's victory over WCU. They average 54.2 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting from the field. The Bulldogs are holding opponents to 49.7 points per game and just 27.1 percent from three-point range. Samford's led by Destiney Elliott with 8.7 points per game this season. The Bulldogs are a well-rounded scoring offence with Taylor Reece and Amara Mayers close behind with 8.1 points and 7.8 points per game respectively.
Saturday's game marks the 16th meeting in program history between the two teams. Samford leads the all-time series 11-4 and defeated UNCG 88-66 in their last meeting February 9, 2015. UNCG's senior class is looking for its first home victory over the Bulldogs as they are 0-3 inside Fleming Gymnasium during their career. Samford has won the last four meetings with UNCG's most recent victory being February 9, 2013 in Birmingham, 52-51.
Live video will be available on the SoCon Digital Network with UNCG's Parker Southern on the call. Fans can follow live stats by logging on to UNCGSpartans.com or following @uncgscores for in-game Twitter updates.
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