Reviewed by: Pat Byington
Samford women’s basketball wins SoCon, clinches spot in NCAA Tournament
Reading time: 2 minutes
After 14 regular season games, there were three teams finished tied for the top spot in the Southern Conference.
And Samford just beat all of them in three days.
The Bulldogs are returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012 after winning the SoCon Women’s Basketball Tournament in Asheville, N.C. over the weekend.
Now, Samford awaits to see who it will play in its first NCAA Tournament game with Selection Sunday scheduled for March 15.
Samford Women’s Basketball
Samford finished 6-8 in conference play during the regular season, tying its worst mark since 2019. The Bulldogs are now just 16-18 overall but are still headed to the big dance.
This team has seemingly turned it on at the right time, not just riding a 3-game winning streak in the postseason but winning eight of its last 10 games.
Freshman Kaylee Yarbrough delivered a career performance in the SoCon championship game, scoring 25 points off the bench and matching her season high with five made three-pointers. She leads the Bulldogs with 12.2 points per game this season.
Brianna Rivera leads the conference as a 36.5% shooter from beyond the arc. Samford makes 8.4 3-pointers per game which ranks 32nd in the country.
NCAA Women’s Tournament
Nine teams have already clinched a bid in the big dance with 22 more auto bids being handed out before Selection Sunday.
This will be Samford’s third ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since the Bulldogs made consecutive tournaments in 2011 + 2012. Samford lost in the first round of both previous appearances.
As of right now, Samford is projected as a 16 seed by ESPN’s Charlie Creme but the Bulldogs could be slated into one of the play-in games. That would give them a better chance to earn their first ever tournament win.
The official bracket will be revealed March 15 at 7PM on ESPN.
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