Opponents:
Salem vs. Trinity (D.C.) | All-Women's Tip-Off Tournament | Hollins | Roanoke, Va. | 5 p.m.
Salem vs. Agnes Scott | All-Women's Tip-Off Tournament | Hollins | Roanoke, Va. | 2 p.m.

SALEM HEADS TO HOLLINS TO FACE TRINITY (D.C.), AGNES SCOTT
The Salem basketball team returns to the road for the second time this season, heading to Roanoke, Va., for a two-day, two-game tournament that is being hosted by Hollins. The Spirits have the opportunity, with two victories, to become the first team in program history to open a season 3-0.

The Spirits will take on both Trinity (D.C.) and Agnes Scott, on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Salem takes to the floor on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. to open the All-Women's Tip-Off Tournament, facing Trinity (D.C.). Less than 24 hours later, on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., the meeting with Agnes Scott will take place.

GRAB YOUR ROSTER, YOU WILL NEED IT FOR FAMILIARITY
Salem basketball underwent a major roster overhaul during the offseason and the 2023-24 roster will have nine first year players.

Additionally, head coach Sharee' Boyd and her staff added sophomore Ti'Erra Lee as a transfer to the program. Lee competed at LeTourneau University in Texas, where she appeared in five games. Her best individual outing of the season came on November 21st against the University of Dallas, where she scored a season-high six points in win. She also had season-high three rebounds and an assist versus Blackburn just over a month later on December 29.

The five returnees include sophomore Christina Battistini, along with seniors Alize Munn, Natasha Guo, Cree Bass and Dionne Sampson.

Battistini capsule 2022-23: Closed out a solid first season on the hardwoods with 61 rebounds and 54 points for the Spirits … her 61 rebounds were the fifth-most on the team … climbed the offensive glass for 25 boards … hit 19 field goals, including six 3-pointers, along with 10 free throws for Salem … also dished out 19 assists and forced 18 steals.

Bass capsule 2022-23: Notched 182 points over the course of the season, while making 13 starts in 21 games played for Salem … most effective 3-point shooter for Salem, hitting 25-of-99 along the way … a multi-talented player, who grabbed the fifth-most total rebounds (82), including 70 on the defensive glass … responsible for the second-most assists (50) and steals (41) on the team in 2022-23 … exploded for 25 points, hitting 8-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-12 from the free throw line, in the season-opener against Warren Wilson (Nov. 8).

Guo capsule 2022-23: Logged 117 minutes over the course of 18 games … ended the season with seven points, hitting three field goals along the way … grabbed 12 rebounds, including eight defensive boards, while making three steals and three assists.

Munn capsule 2022-23: Wrapped up her season by scoring the second-most points (231) on the team after converting 96-of-200 (48%) of her field goal attempts … played in 21 games, making 16 starts along the way … hauled in the second-most total rebounds (125) on the team, behind only Tamsi Echendu, grabbing 81 defensive and 44 offensive boards … notched the eighth-most single-season blocks (26) in program history … responsible for 23 steals and 17 assists over the course of the slate.

Sampson capsule 2022-23: Sampson will look to provide the same firepower to the Spirits' offense as she did a season ago, when she led all Salem players in scoring with 306 points (13.3 ppg), after hitting 97-of-231 from the floor. Sampson heads into her final year of eligibility with 675 points (7th-most all-time), 231 field goals (9th-most all-time) and 222 rebounds. She is one of just five players in program history to score 600 points, grab 200 rebounds, hand out 100 assists and force 100 steals.

SALEM OPENS SEASON WITH VICTORY AT WARREN WILSON
Senior Alize Munn finished one point shy of her career high, notching a game-high 24 points, as she led the Salem basketball team to a 76-69 victory in Warren Wilson on Tuesday evening.

Joining Munn among double-digit scorers for the Spirits were Nykerah Engle (12) and Cree Bass, who recorded 13 in the victory. Dionne Sampson capped off the game with a 13-point effort for the Spirits.

Munn and Gorum shared the team lead in rebounds, grabbing nine apiece, combining for 11 offensive boards on the evening. Meanwhile, teammates Cristina Battistini and Ti'Erra Lee grabbed seven rebounds each for the reserves.

Salem converted 28-of-82 field goals (34.1%) and was successful on 17-of-31 (54.8%) of its free throws. The Spirits finished with a 51-43 advantage on the glass, grabbing 22 offensive boards along the way.

OPENING THE SEASON WITH CONSECUTIVE WINS
The 2023-24 Salem basketball team and head coach Sharee' Boyd have the opportunity to make program history with a pair of victories in Roanoke. If the Spirits were to defeat both Trinity (D.C.) and Agnes Scott it would mark the first time in program history that a Salem team opened the season at 3-0.

Salem has opened a season at 2-0 just once in history, which came in the 2009-10 campaign, and on four occasions has been 2-1 through the first three contests. The 2-1 starts came in 2009-10, 2012-13, 2016-17 and most recently in 2017-18.

Coincidentally, the last time that the Spirits opened the season 2-0, one of the wins also came against Agnes Scott. In 2009-10, then head coach Jim Jackson, and his unit defeated the Scotties by an 80-70 margin to begin the season on November 15th. Five nights later, Salem downed Bennett by a 64-44 margin, before slipping 61-42 to Salisbury.

USA SOUTH PRESEASON POLLS ANNOUNCED
The Salem basketball team was selected eighth in the 2023-24 USA South Conference Preseason Polls, which were announced in a release from the league office on Tuesday, October 24th. Meanwhile, N.C. Wesleyan was billed as the top team in the polls, which were conducted by the league's head coaches.

Sharee' Boyd, who enters her second year at the helm of the Salem basketball program, returns five players from a 2022-23 squad that finished with six victories, three of which came by virtue of forfeits.

N.C. Wesleyan was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 76 total points and five of the possible ten first place votes. The Battling Bishops posted a 14-4 regular season League record last season to place second before falling in the Conference tournament title game. The 14 USA South wins tied the most since the 2019-20 season. Brevard placed second in the preseason poll with 71 points and two first place votes while Southern Virginia rounded-out the top-three with 64 points and two first place votes of its own. The final first place vote went to defending USA South regular season and tournament champion Greensboro, who sits fifth in the poll.

Since the first Conference women's basketball preseason poll in 2003-04, the N.C. Wesleyan program has been picked to capture the title twice and has succeeded in one of those seasons. The team picked first in the history of the preseason poll has reached at least the semifinals of the Conference tournament 19 out of 20 times, played for the championship 15 of those years, and won the League title on nine occasions. Conversely, the team picked second in the preseason poll has won the Conference championship six times.

SALEM ALL-TIME HISTORY WITH TRINITY (D.C.)
Salem has faced Trinity (D.C.) on just one occasion in program history, coming away with a 122-43 win in the process.

The victory came on January 10, 2008, and is the most points in a single game in program history for the Spirits.

TRINITY (D.C.) IN 2023: Trinity opened the season with a 93-47 setback to Catholic on November 8th after the Cardinals scored at least 20 points in all four quarters.

Trinity received a game-high 23 points from Brenae Ford, who knocked down 10-of-21 from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. In 38 minutes, Ford also forced a steal and grabbed two rebounds. Victoria Murdock added six points for Trinity, while Taryn Yancey anchored the paint with three rebounds.

ALL-TIME SERIES (vs. Trinity (D.C.))

SALEM ALL-TIME HISTORY VERSUS AGNES SCOTT
Salem heads into Saturday's clash with Agnes Scott with an 11-7 lead in the all-time series. Salem has won six of its 11 games in the series at Varsity Gym and claimed one at a neutral site. The two were both members of the Great South Athletic Conference, before the Scotties joined the USA South for a brief period of time.

The one win at a neutral site came on February 23, 2013 at the Great South Quarterfinals in Montgomery, Alabama.

Salem has won the last eight head-to-head meetings in the series, a winning streak that has spanned from January 11, 2014 through January 28, 2017. The January 28th meeting marked the last clash between the two programs.

AGNES SCOTT IN 2023: The Scotties opened the 2023-24 season with a 101-27 setback to Western Carolina in Cullowhee before returning home to face Spalding (Ky.) and Centre as part of the Agnes Scott Tip-off Classic.

Agnes Scott suffered a 53-35 loss to Spalding in the first game of the tournament before falling 69-27 on Saturday, November 11th.

Laila Williams leads all Scottie scorers with 26 points, while Erika McLeod is second with 18. Williams has knocked down 10-of-43 shots from the floor, despite being unsuccessful on 13 3-point attempts, and has climbed the glass for 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, McLeod leads the team in rebounding with 26, including 22 defensive boards.

ALL-TIME SERIES (vs. Agnes Scott)