Jan. 6, 2001

Box Score

MACON, Ga. - The Samford Bulldogs held Mercer scoreless for the first 8:03 of the second half and only allowed the Bears 18 second half points on route to a much needed 63-50 Trans America Athletic Conference victory at Porter Gym Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs snapped a six-game losing streak to improve to 3-10 on the season and 2-2 in the TAAC. Samford has now won four straight against Mercer while the Bears dropped to 3-10 and 0-4 in the TAAC.

After a tight first half which saw 11 ties, Samford (3-10, 2-2 TAAC) took a 34-32 lead into the locker room after a Giovanni Price lay up with eight seconds left in the half. Samford turned up the defensive pressure after halftime and went on a 10-0 run to open the second half. Price was one of three Bulldogs to reach double-figures with a game-high 16 points. Sarah Clement matched her season high with 13 points and Wendi Wilcox had 10 points by going 8-8 from the free-throw line.

Mercer missed its first 11 shots in the second half until Mia Washington hit a jumper with 11:57 to play. Washington led Mercer with 12 points while Tracy Henry added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bears. Mercer shot 46 percent in the first half but only shot 27 percent in the second period to finish at 37 percent. The Bears only went 12-24 from the free throw line.

"I am glad that our players were rewarded for their perseverance and hard work. I thought our defense was solid and we did well offensively and got fouled. The difference in the game was our foul shooting. 79 percent from the line will win a lot of games" said Samford head coach Janet Cone.

Free throw shooting was a big reason for the Bulldogs victory. Samford scored seven straight points from the free throw line in a four minute stretch of the first half and Samford made its first 10 from the charity stripe on way to a season-high 79 percent (23-29).

Samford out rebounded the Bears 40-29 and shot 39 percent for the game. Cortney Moore scored a season-high eight points while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

Mercer went on a 7-2 run to get to within six points at 52-47 with 3:49 left to play. Price then made a lay up off an assist from Jennifer East to spark an 8-0 Bulldog run which put the game out of reach at 60-47 with just 1:47 to play.

The Bulldogs will return to Seibert Hall for the first time in over a month to face Jacksonville University Thursday, Jan. 11, at 4:45 p.m. The game will be the first game of a double header which will feature the Samford men against Mercer in the nightcap.