ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The top-seeded Samford Bulldogs captured the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale on Sunday afternoon in nail-biting fashion. It came down to the wire in a 59-54 triumph over No. 3 seed UNC Greensboro.
 
The Spartans led 54-52 with 1:31 after the two teams traded defensive stops after Nadine Soliman gave her ladies the lead on a strong drive left. Her floater banked in with 2:28 remaining.
 
Samford came out of the timeout quickly working the ball around the perimeter. Paige Serup hit Natalie Armstrong in the middle paint. She made a strong move, scoring with her left hand to tie it with 1:17 to go.
 
The Bulldogs got another stop and worked back into the frontcourt. As the shot clock perilously ticked toward zero, Charity Brown drove left then floated a pass back to the top of the key. Armstrong, who would go on to be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, drilled a 3-pointer with 20.5 to play and the lead was three, 57-54.
 
Soliman was kept from moving left but got a daylight for a deep 3. It was off the mark and ended up out of bounds. Sarah Myers delivered an inbounds pass to Brown, who broke free for a layup at 8.4. She sealed the crown with a quick steal, running out the final seconds.
 
Armstrong led all scorers with 20 points and seven rebounds. Brown added 14 with Shauntai Battle chipping in 12 more. Alexus Willey paced the Spartans with 14, while Aja Boyd recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
UNCG led 16-13 early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs shot by them 12-2 over the final 6:28 to go into the locker room up 25-18. The Spartans did the same thing in the third period. Down 34-29 at 3:58, they went on an 11-5 spurt to the finish of the period, taking a 40-39 advantage into the fourth.
 
Samford took control early in the fourth. It was 50-46 when the Spartans held them without a field goal until Armstrong’s post move at 1:17. Soliman scored six of her nine during that nearly four minutes of clock time to regain the lead before Armstrong’s heroics.
 
The Bulldogs, picked seventh in the preseason SoCon poll, learn their NCAA tournament foe on Monday, March 16. The selection show is on ESPN at 7 p.m.
 
RECORDS: Samford 18-14 | UNC Greensboro 23-9
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- Samford is the first team since 2012 to win the Southern Conference tournament not named Chattanooga (2013-17) or Mercer (2018-19). The Bulldogs were the last team to do it as well, winning in 2011 and 2012. The last team other than one of that trio to capture the championship was Western Carolina (2005 & 2009). Samford is 3-1 all-time in the title game.
- UNC Greensboro played in its sixth championship game. The Spartans won in 1998 and finished runner-up in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2020.
- Samford makes its third trip to the NCAA tournament. It lost to Florida State (76-46) in 2011 and Duke (82-47) in 2012.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Samford won the second and fourth quarters (36-18), while the Spartans held court in the first and third (36-23).
- UNCG shot just 31.5 percent (17-for-54) from the field for the game but was especially frigid inside the arc. It hit just 10-of-37 (27.0 percent) on 2-point attempts compared to 41.2 percent (7-for-17) on 3s.
- The Bulldogs outscored the Spartans 28-12 in the paint.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
First Team
Jaron Dougherty, Mercer
Aja Boyd, UNCG
Nadine Soliman, UNCG
Natalie Armstrong, Samford (MOP)
Paige Serup, Samford
 
Second Team
Tierra Hodges, Furman
Shannon Titus, Mercer
Te’ja Twitty, UNCG
Sarah Myers, Samford
Jewel Smalls, Western Carolina
 
Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Samantha Fitzgerald, Samford
 
 
2020 Ingles Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale
Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville, Asheville, N.C.
 
Thursday, March 5 (ESPN+)
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
 
Friday, March 6 (ESPN+)
Game 5 – No. 1 Samford 75, No. 4 Furman 45
Game 6 – No. 3 UNCG 75, No. 7 Mercer 73 (OT)
 
Sunday, March 8 (Nexstar/ESPN+)
Championship Game
Game 7 – No. 1 Samford 59, No. 3 UNCG 54