No. 1 seed Samford 75, No. 4 seed Furman 45

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Samford Bulldogs cruised to a 75-45 win over the Furman Paladins in the first semifinal of the Ingles Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale on Friday. It was a steady, dominating performance that propelled the Bulldogs one step from the Big Dance.
 
Paige Serup led four in double figures with 19 points and five steals. Charity Brown added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Sarah Myers and Natalie Armstrong chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. Tierra Hodges paced the Paladins with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
 
Samford led for all but the first 2:43 seconds. Its lead reached double digits for the first time with a Serup triple at 8:44 of the second quarter. Furman battled back to within six, 26-20, on two Lindsey Taylor free throws with 2:34 until intermission. Raven Omar answered with a 3-pointer at 2:19 and later a layup just before the half to send her Bulldogs into the half ahead 11, 33-22.
 
The Paladins cut it back to nine twice early in the third, but Samford refused to provide even a crack in the door. The Bulldogs shot 80 percent (8-for-10) over the final 10 minutes, making all four behind the arc to pull away to the 30-point triumph.
 
Samford advances to Sunday’s championship game. The Bulldogs await the winner of Friday’s second semifinal matchup between UNC Greensboro and Mercer. The title tilt tips off at noon in Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville, broadcasting on select Nexstar affiliates as well ESPN+.
 
RECORDS: Samford 17-14 | Furman 19-12
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- The Bulldogs advance to their first SoCon Championship game since winning the second of two straight titles in 2012, the first year the league returned to Asheville. It’s their fourth appearance for all the marbles since joining the league in 2008-09 with all three coming in successive seasons: 2010, 2011 and 2012.
- The 30-point margin of victory is the second-largest for Samford in the SoCon tourney. It’s one point shy of the 31-point spread in a 2012 quarterfinal rout of Elon beginning its title trek.
- It’s a hard-fought 28-game series between Samford and Furman, with a 15-13 advantage for the Bulldogs. Samford’s win Friday was its first season over the Paladins after Furman’s sweep of the regular season, winning 77-69 in Greenville and 72-59 in Birmingham. Samford evened the postseason ledger at 2-2 with the previous three matchups all coming in the quarterfinals.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
- +21 advantage in points off turnovers for the Bulldogs. They took advantage of 22 Furman miscues with a 24-3 margin in the stat.
- Furman shot just 34.9 percent (15-for-43) overall including 15.0 percent (3-for-20) from 3-point range. That’s in stark contrast to its shooting in sweeping the regular-season series, when it made a sterling 53.1 percent (52-for-98) from the floor and went 13-of-30 (43.3 percent) beyond the arc.
- It’s the sixth time Samford has held an opponent to fewer than 50 points in 2019-20. Not surprisingly, it’s 6-0 on those occasions. The Bulldogs are 16-4 when allowing fewer than 70 this season.

No. 3 seed UNC Greensboro 75, No. 7 seed Mercer 73 (OT)
 
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Nadine Soliman’s jumper with 0.2 seconds to play propelled UNC Greensboro into the championship game of the Ingles Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale. It resulted in a 75-73 overtime triumph over two-time defending champ Mercer on Friday when she corralled the final pass at the Bears’ basket as time expired.
 
Amoria Neal-Tysor book-ended an Aja Boyd layup in the final minute with a couple of mid-range jumpers. The first tied it at 71 and the latter 73. UNCG called timeout before setting up Soliman’s heroics. She worked her way to the free-throw line area and banked in her jumper with the clock reading 0.1 seconds.
 
Mercer coach Susie Gardner called timeout, moving the ball into Mercer territory. The referees checked the clock during the break and adjusted it to 0.2. The Bears floated the ball at the basket looking for a quick touch toward the basket. Soliman finished what she started, intercepting the effort as the buzzer rang.
 
Boyd led all scorers with 28 points. Te’ja Twitty added 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Soliman chipped in 13 points, 13 boards and four steals. Shannon Titus and Jaron Dougherty led Mercer with 24 apiece as Neal-Tysor scored 11.
 
UNCG heads to Sunday’s championship game to face Samford. The title game tips off at noon in Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville and will be broadcast on select Nexstar affiliates as well ESPN+.
 
RECORDS: UNC Greensboro 23-8 | Mercer 8-23
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- The Spartans are now 6-3 in the semifinal round. They advance to their first finals since 2006. Their lone win came in 1998, 75-69 over Georgia Southern.
- It’s just the second time in six SoCon tourney appearances the Bears do not reach the finale. Their only other pre-championship day loss was the 2015 semifinals, where they lost 66-55 to ETSU. This snaps a string of four straight finals appearances with two wins (2018 & 2019) and two runner-up finishes (2016 & 2017).
- The contest was the first overtime game in the tournament since the 2015 title game, a 61-56 Chattanooga win over the Bucs.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
- The Spartans held a +17 rebound margin, converting 17 offensive rebounds into an 18-2 advantage in second-chance points.
- The two teams combined to make just one of 14 3-point attempts (Mercer 1-for-5/UNCG 0-for-9).
- UNCG scored on six of nine possessions in the extra period, the Bears five of nine.
 
2020 Ingles Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale
Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville, Asheville, N.C.
 
Thursday, March 5
Game 1 – No. 1 Samford 77, No. 8 Western Carolina 62
Game 2 – No. 4 Furman 68, No. 5 Wofford, 54
Game 3 – No. 7 Mercer 63, No. 2 Chattanooga 55
Game 4 – No. 3 UNCG 57, No. 6 ETSU 47
 
^ - Denotes approximate game time. The first game on March 5 will have a firm start time. Each game thereafter will start 30 minutes following the conclusion of the preceding game but will not start prior to the listed time.
 
Friday, March 6
Game 5 – No. 1 Samford 75 No. 4 Furman 45
Game 6 – No. 3 UNCG 75, No. 7 Mercer 73 (OT)
 
Sunday, March 8
Championship Game
Game 7 – No. 1 Samford vs. No. 3 UNCG, 12 p.m.
 
NOTE: All times Eastern. All games to be broadcast on ESPN+, with the championship game also on Nexstar.