2025–26 Samford Bulldogs women's basketball team

2025–26 Samford Bulldogs women's basketball
2025–26 Samford Bulldogs women's basketball
SoCon tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	16–18 (6–8 SoCon)
Head coach	Matt Wise (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Hannah Barber; Charity Brown; Sally Higgins; Walker Martin;
Home arena	Pete Hanna Center

2025–26 Southern Conference women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Chattanooga	10	–	4	.714	20	–	10	.667
East Tennessee State	10	–	4	.714	18	–	13	.581
Wofford	10	–	4	.714	16	–	13	.552
Furman	9	–	5	.643	18	–	13	.581
Mercer	7	–	7	.500	17	–	13	.567
Samford †	6	–	8	.429	16	–	18	.471
UNC Greensboro	4	–	10	.286	14	–	16	.467
Western Carolina	0	–	14	.000	3	–	26	.103

† 2026 SoCon tournament winner As of March 8, 2026^[1]

The 2025–26 Samford Bulldogs women's basketball team represented Samford University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs, who are led by first-year head coach Matt Wise, played their home games at the Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon).

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2024–25 season 12–19, 7–7 in SoCon play, to finish in fifth place. They were defeated by Wofford in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament.

Preseason

On October 3, 2025, the SoCon released their preseason coaches poll. Samford was picked to finish for sixth in the SoCon regular season.^[2]

Preseason rankings

SoCon preseason poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	48 (6)
2	UNC Greensboro	39 (2)
3	East Tennessee State	38
4	Wofford	28
5	Furman	26
6	Samford	19
7	Western Carolina	14
8	Mercer	12

Source:^[2]

Preseason All-SoCon Team

Preseason All-SoCon Team
Player	Position	Year
Emily Bowman	Center	RS-Senior

Source:^[2]

Roster

2025–26 Samford Bulldogs women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Jada Knight	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	GS	Butler Community College	Hoover, Alabama
G	2	Avary Brewer	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Fr	Bradley Central High School	Cleveland, Tennessee
G	3	Kaylee Yarbrough	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	New Hope High School	New Hope, Alabama
G	4	Camryn Register	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Fr	Hebron Christian Academy	Lawrenceville, Georgia
G	5	Francie Morris	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Trinity Presbyterian High School	Montgomery, Alabama
G/F	10	Aubrey Blankenship	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS So	Green Hill High School	Mount Juliet, Tennessee
G	11	Briana Rivera	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	So	Austin Peay	Orlando, Florida
F	12	Carla Baguda	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Institut Montilivi	Barcelona, Spain
G	20	Alyssa Tarpley	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	Gunter High School	Gunter, Texas
G	21	Sydney Martin	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Fr	Northern Kentucky	Somerset, Kentucky
G	22	Sierra Godbolt	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Sr	UCF	Orlando, Florida
F	32	Yael Maayan	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Hof HaSharon	Yehuda, Israel
F	33	Martha Bishop	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Jr	Spartanburg High School	Spartanburg, South Carolina
C	44	Emily Bowman	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	RS Sr	Vanderbilt	Huntsville, Alabama

Head coach

Matt Wise (Transylvania)

Assistant coach(es)

Hannah Barber (Alabama)
Charity Brown (Samford)
Sally Higgins (West Texas A&M)
Walker Martin (Michigan State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 12, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+		Montevallo	W 75–53	1–0	Pete Hanna Center (1,715) Homewood, AL
November 8, 2025* 5:00 p.m., B1G+		at Nebraska	L 46–80	1–1	Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,670) Lincoln, NE
November 13, 2025* 6:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+		at Florida	L 40–87	1–2	O'Connell Center (1,238) Gainesville, FL
November 15, 2025* 3:00 p.m.		at Florida A&M	W 77–57	2–2	Al Lawson Center (654) Tallahassee, FL
November 19, 2025* 6:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+		at Alabama	L 45–84	2–3	Coleman Coliseum (2,472) Tuscaloosa, AL
November 21, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Stillman	W 90–35	3–3	Pete Hanna Center (350) Homewood, AL
November 24, 2025* 1:30 p.m.		vs. Central Arkansas GSU Thanksgiving Tournament	L 44–67	3–4	GSU Convocation Center (1,154) Atlanta, GA
November 25, 2025* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+		at Georgia State GSU Thanksgiving Tournament	L 64–69	3–5	GSU Convocation Center (1,207) Atlanta, GA
November 24, 2025* 1:30 p.m.		vs. Stony Brook GSU Thanksgiving Tournament	W 58–48	4–5	GSU Convocation Center (1,130) Atlanta, GA
December 1, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		at Minnesota	L 40–77	4–6	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 4, 2025* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+		at Tennessee Tech	L 60–82	4–7	Hooper Eblen Center (5,845) Cookeville, TN
December 7, 2025* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		North Alabama	L 60–68 ^OT	4–8	Pete Hanna Center (373) Homewood, AL
December 14, 2025* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at USC Upstate	W 74–67	5–8	G. B. Hodge Center (206) Spartanburg, SC
December 18, 2025* 5:30 p.m., ESPN+		Lipscomb	W 65–59	6–8	Pete Hanna Center (417) Homewood, AL
December 22, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UAB	L 49–65	6–9	Bartow Arena (356) Birmingham, AL
December 28, 2025* 2:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+		at Mississippi State	L 54–112	6–10	Humphrey Coliseum (373) Starkville, MS
January 2, 2026* 2:00 p.m.		Fisk	W 70–54	7–10	Pete Hanna Center (236) Homewood, AL
SoCon regular season
January 8, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Carolina A&T	L 64–73	7–11 (0–1)	Bodford Arena (162) Greensboro, NC
January 10, 2026 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Western Carolina	W 73–62	8–11 (1–1)	Ramsey Center (622) Cullowhee, NC
January 17, 2026 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Mercer	L 67–76	8–12 (1–2)	Hawkins Arena (489) Macon, GA
January 22, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Wofford	L 56–80	8–13 (1–3)	Pete Hanna Center (253) Homewood, AL
January 24, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Furman	L 62–70	8–14 (1–4)	Pete Hanna Center (313) Homewood, AL
January 30, 2026 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at East Tennessee State	L 44–53	8–15 (1–5)	Brooks Gymnasium (352) Johnson City, TN
February 1, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Chattanooga	L 40–61	8–16 (1–6)	McKenzie Arena (1,661) Chattanooga, TN
February 5, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Western Carolina	W 73–50	9–16 (2–6)	Pete Hanna Center (273) Homewood, AL
February 7, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		UNC Greensboro	W 68–64	10–16 (3–6)	Pete Hanna Center (311) Homewood, AL
February 14, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Mercer	W 68–48	11–16 (4–6)	Pete Hanna Center (311) Homewood, AL
February 19, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Furman	W 68–59	12–16 (5–6)	Timmons Arena (375) Greenville, NC
February 21, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Wofford	L 44–52	12–17 (5–7)	Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (311) Spartanburg, SC
February 26, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Chattanooga	W 77–70	13–17 (6–7)	Pete Hanna Center (307) Homewood, AL
February 28, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Mercer	L 39–46	13–18 (6–8)	Pete Hanna Center (671) Homewood, AL
SoCon tournament
March 5, 2026 2:30 p.m., ESPN+	(6)	vs. (3) Wofford Quarterfinals	W 59–57	14–18	Harrah's Cherokee Center Ashville, NC
March 6, 2026 12:15 p.m., ESPN+	(6)	vs. (2) East Tennessee State Semifinals	W 57–48	15–18	Harrah's Cherokee Center (3,096) Ashville, NC
March 8, 2026 11:00 a.m., ESPNU	(6)	vs. (1) Chattanooga Championship	W 72–67	16–18	Harrah's Cherokee Center (1,160) Ashville, NC
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2026* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2	(16 S4)	vs. (16 S4) Southern First Four			Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Sacramento 4=S4. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[3]^[4]

References

^ "SoCon Women's Basketball 2025-2026 Standings". SoConSports.com. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
^ ^a ^b ^c "SoCon women's hoops preseason all-conference team, poll announced". SoCon. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Samford University Athletics. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
^ "Samford Bulldogs 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 12, 2026.

[WBBStandings-1] "SoCon Women's Basketball 2025-2026 Standings". SoConSports.com. Retrieved February 28, 2026.

[poll-2] "SoCon women's hoops preseason all-conference team, poll announced". SoCon. Retrieved March 12, 2026.

[3] "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Samford University Athletics. Retrieved March 12, 2026.

[4] "Samford Bulldogs 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 12, 2026.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Samford Bulldogs women's basketball
Venues	Seibert Hall (1997–2007) Pete Hanna Center (2007–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26