Opponents:
Salem at Southern Virginia | Buena Vista, Va. | 5:30 p.m. | February 6 | Knight Arena
William Peace at Salem | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 2 p.m. | February 10 | Varsity Gym | Senior Day

TWO GAMES AWAIT SALEM BASKETBALL THIS WEEK
The Spirits have two games upcoming this week, including a road contest at Southern Virginia on Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. The clash with the Knights marks the first road game of February for the Spirits, who close out the regular season on the road at Mary Baldwin (Feb. 14) and Brevard (Feb. 17).

Salem will also host its 2023-24 home regular season finale on Saturday, February 10th, when William Peace comes to the Triad. The game will serve as Senior Day for the quartet of Cree Bass, Natasha Guo, Alize Munn and Dionne Sampson.

SPIRITS SPLIT WEEKEND WITH PFEIFFER, MARY BALDWIN
vs. Pfeiffer (Feb. 2): Dionne Sampson put an exclamation point on her Salem career on Friday evening at Varsity Gym in the second quarter when she drove the lane and sliced past two Pfeiffer defenders, scoring her 1,000th-point in the process. Sampson became the fourth player in program history to score 1,000 points for the Spirits, along with Sabrina Shepherd (1,493), Quntashea Lewis (1,208) and MiKayla Seivers (1,126).

Sampson closed the game with 10 points, hitting 5-of-12 from the floor, and was one of three players in double figures in a 65-56 setback to USA South Conference rival Pfeiffer. Cree Bass led all Salem scorers with 13 points, converting 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, while Ti'Erra Lee came through with 10 points and four rebounds.

Lily Gorum was also instrumental in the contest for Salem, equaling her single-game season-high in rebounds with nine. Gorum hauled down four on the offensive glass, while Isabella Childs snagged seven rebounds (five defensive).

vs. Mary Baldwin (Feb. 3): Dionne Sampson posted a game-high 24 points, topping the 20-point margin for the sixth time this season, as Salem earned its third home win of the season by a 70-62 margin over Mary Baldwin on Saturday afternoon.

Sampson capped off a solid two-game in two-day performance, returning to the floor less than 24 hours after scoring her 1,000th career point to finish 8-of-22 from the field and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in the eight-point victory over the Fighting Squirrels. Sampson also came through with eight steals, four rebounds and three assists, all while hitting 5-of-8 at the free throw line.

Nykerah Engle also reached double figures, finishing with 10 points after knocking down 3-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 at the free throw line. Ti'Erra Lee led the Spirits in the paint with 11 rebounds, hauling in seven on the defensive glass, while Engle added six and Lily Gorum came through with five.

Salem was 22-of-73 (30.1%) from the field and 20-of-35 (57.1%) at the free throw line. The Spirits knocked down six of their 22 field goals from 3-point range.

NEWEST MEMBER OF THE CLUB
Dionne Sampson has now etched her name among Salem basketball's elite scorers by becoming the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Sampson, who reached the milestone in the second quarter against Pfeiffer, joined Sabrina Shepherd (1,493), Quntashea Lewis (1,208) and MiKayla Seivers (1,126) as the only players in program history with 1,000 points.

With four regular season contests remaining and one USA South Conference Tournament contest for Salem, Sampson needs just 95 points to tie Seivers for third-most points in school history.

HOW SAMPSON REACHED 1,000 IN 2023-24
This season, Sampson has reached the 20-point plateau on six occasions. The first two came with a 25-point effort against Brevard (Dec. 2) and a 21-point outing versus Ferrum (Dec. 15).

Sampson notched back-to-back 20-point games on January 6th and January 10th and sparked the Spirits to consecutive wins along the way. She capped off January with three 20-point outings, the most of any one month this season.

She came through with 27 points against Greensboro, as Salem claimed the second league victory of the season. Four days later, Sampson scored 24 points at William Peace in the 12-point Spirits' victory. The Burlington, N.C., native delivered her fifth 20-point outing of 2023-24 against Meredith on January 23rd, when she converted 8-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-4 at the free throw line in a 22-point performance.

Sampson's most recent 20-point outing came when her team needed her the most—in a clash with Mary Baldwin on Saturday, February 3rd. She finished 8-of-22 from the floor, converting a trio of 3-pointers along the way, and knocked down 5-of-8 at the charity stripe to tally 24 points against the Fighting Squirrels. The eight-point win helped Salem earn its fourth league win of the campaign and put the Spirits in a three-way tie alongside William Peace and Pfeiffer for seventh in the USA South Conference Tournament.

Sampson has notched at least 20 points on 10 occasions in her Salem career, including a career-best 30, which came against William Peace on February 12, 2022. Last season, Sampson also delivered three 20-point scoring efforts, which came against Mary Baldwin (22 | Jan. 25), Meredith (24 | Feb. 11) and Greensboro (21 | Feb. 21).

SPIRITS MAKING THE IMPACT ON THE LINEUP IN 2023-24
Dionne Sampson has put together one of the best performances in Salem basketball lore, notching the ninth-most points (356) in program history as she leads the team in 2023-24.

Sampson has scored her points from a variety of ways, leading the team in field goals (124) and free throws (94) made, while converting the second-most 3-pointers (14) on the unit.

With her 356 points, a single-season career-high, Sampson is the seventh different player in program history to notch at least 300 points in a single season in program history.

Alize Munn, who has missed the last seven games due to injury, is second on the unit in points with 202. Meanwhile, Cree Bass is tied with Nykerah Engle for third in total points (157). Bass is the top 3-point shooter on the unit with 34 conversions

Ti'Erra Lee leads the unit in rebounding with 102 (57 defensive), followed by Munn (98 rebounds) and Lily Gorum, who has hauled in 88 rebounds (55 defensive).

Defensively, the backcourt tandem of Engle and Sampson lead the way in steals, with 60 and 59, respectively. Meanwhile, Munn has a team-best 13 blocked shots.

LOOKING FOR NINTH OVERALL WIN
Salem head coach Sharee' Boyd picked up her eighth win of the season on Saturday, February 3rd, when the Spirits emerged with a 70-62 win over Mary Baldwin. That victory marked the first time since 2017-18 that the Spirits have at least eight wins in a single season.

The last person to coach Salem to at least eight wins was Britni Mohney, who delivered 10 wins in 2017-18. Two years earlier, in 2015-16, Mohney and the Spirits won nine games after Mohney collected eight wins in her first year at the helm of the program in 2014-15.

MUNN WITH THREE DOUBLE-DOUBLE PERFORMANCES IN 2023-24
Senior Alize Munn has been the only player to deliver a double-double performance in the 2023-24 campaign for Salem.

Munn has three double-double outings to her credit. Her first came as part of a 17-point, 14-rebound performance against Trinity (D.C.), resulting in a 69-62 victory. She followed that by having 27 points and 10 rebounds in the clash with Agnes Scott, also marking a Salem win (72-54).

That capped off an impressive three-game stretch where she scored 68 points and grabbed 33 rebounds by earning USA South Player of the Week honors in an announcement from the league office on Monday, November 20th.

Munn was instrumental in helping the Spirits start a season 3-0 for the first time in program history, hitting 29-of-49 (59.2%) from the floor and 10-of-12 (83.3%) at the charity stripe. She also climbed the glass for 33 rebounds, including 15 offensive boards, while forcing 10 steals and finishing with two blocked shots during that three-game stretch.

Munn's most recent double-double against William Peace, which came on January 10th, placed her in unique company at Salem. She became the seventh player in program history to notch a double-double as part of a 30-point outing. Munn climbed the glass for 14 rebounds, tying William Peace's Tanesha Ellison for the game-high in that category.

With that double-double, Munn was the sixth Spirit to have a double-double by virtue of points and rebounds in a 30-point outing and the seventh player in program history to amass a double-double as part of her 30-point performance. Dionne Sampson is the only Spirit to have a double-double by virtue of points and assists in a 30-point effort.

BREAKING DOWN SOUTHERN VIRGINIA IN 2023-24
Southern Virginia is coming off its first USA South Conference loss of the season, which came by a 57-38 decision to Methodist, when the two teams clashed in Buena Vista, Va., on Saturday afternoon.

The setback dropped the Knights to 16-5 on the season and 14-1 in USA South Conference action, and knocked Southern Virginia to 7-2 at home. The loss to Methodist halted a 12-game winning streak for Southern Virginia, which began on December 20th against Grove City.

Five Knights, including Abigail Snyder, have scored at least 100 points on the season. Snyder leads all scorers with 209 points, hitting 69-of-185 from the floor and 95-of-274 from 3-point range. Snyder has also been efficient from the free throw line, knocking down 45-of-54 (83.3%) along the way to lead the Knights in that category.

Ruth Kempler has converted the most field goals (74), five more than Snyder on the season. Snyder does lead the way in assists (67) and steals (31) for the Knights.

RECAPPING JANUARY 17 (vs. Southern Virginia): Aysia Foster scored a game-high 16 points and led four Southern Virginia players in double figures as the Knights kept their perfect USA South Conference record (9-0) intact with a 97-52 victory over Salem at Varsity Gym on Wednesday evening.

Salem's lineup was led by the tandem of Nykerah Engle and Dionne Sampson, who scored 14 points each. It marks the fourth time that Engle has topped the double figure mark in her first year, while Sampson moved her career point total to 923.

Engle, who notched her single-game season high in points finished 4-of-5 from the floor and 6-of-8 at the free throw line in 25 minutes. Meanwhile, Sampson capped off the game by finishing 5-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 at the charity stripe while being riddled with foul trouble throughout the contest. Ti'Erra Lee led the Spirits in rebounding with five, making two blocks along the way.

Along with Foster, Southern Virginia witnessed Abigail Snyder (15), Lilly Kentner (15) and Alyssa Weiland (12) all reach the double figure mark. Snyder was also active on the glass with 10 rebounds, capping off the lone double-double of the contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES (vs. Southern Virginia)