Southern squares off against Samford in First 4 matchup

Samford Bulldogs (16-18, 9-8 SoCon) vs. Southern Jaguars (19-13, 15-6 SWAC)

Columbia, South Carolina; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Jaguars -3.5; over/under is 117.5

BOTTOM LINE: Southern and Samford meet in the NCAA Tournament First Four round.

The Jaguars have gone 15-6 against SWAC opponents, with a 4-7 record in non-conference play. Southern is eighth in the SWAC in rebounding averaging 31.7 rebounds. Jocelyn Tate paces the Jaguars with 5.6 boards.

The Bulldogs are 9-8 against SoCon opponents. Samford ranks eighth in the SoCon with 27.5 rebounds per game led by Emily Bowman averaging 5.3.

Southern’s average of 5.0 made 3-pointers per game is 1.4 fewer made shots on average than the 6.4 per game Samford allows. Samford has shot at a 39.0% rate from the field this season, 0.3 percentage points greater than the 38.7% shooting opponents of Southern have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: DeMya Porter is shooting 52.9% and averaging 9.7 points for the Jaguars. Olivia Delancy is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Kaylee Yarbrough is shooting 41.8% and averaging 12.2 points for the Bulldogs. Francie Morris is averaging 13.8 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Jaguars: 8-2, averaging 65.0 points, 32.0 rebounds, 13.0 assists, 13.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 39.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 53.7 points per game.

Bulldogs: 8-2, averaging 62.5 points, 28.2 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 5.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 56.1 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up