March 8, 2003
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Samford outscored JSU 18-6 in the final 4:45 of the second overtime and defeated the Gamecocks 78-71 Saturday. Giovanni Price scored 16 points to lead four Samford players in double figures and Samford shot 47 percent from the field in the double overtime win. Samford finishes the season 7-20 and 3-13 in the A-Sun while JSU falls to 14-13 and 8-8 in the A-Sun.
With the score tied at 67 with 43 seconds to play in the second overtime, Cora Beth Smith hit a 3-pointer to give Samford a 70-67 lead. Lindsey Harris made four free throws and Chelsee Insell and Natalie McLendon each made two free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory. The Bulldogs trailed 65-60 with only 15 seconds gone in the second overtime, but were able to keep their composure and chip away, eventually capturing a hard-fought season-ending win.
The Bulldogs led 55-52 with 18 seconds remaining in regulation, when JSU airballed a 3-pointer. Harris fell into JSU's Freddricka Embry and was called for a loose-ball foul. Embry missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but Jacksonville State grabbed the rebound and Jacksonville State's star player, Shanika Freeman, nailed a 22-foot jumper from the top of the key, tying the score and sending the game to overtime.
Each team struggled to score in the first overtime, trading baskets until the score was knotted at 60 with 10 seconds to play. Freeman, her shooting touch having deserted her (she shot 4-16 from the field), tried lowering her shoulder and bulling her way to the basket for the second half and overtime. The tactic was effective, as she made 16-18 freethows. But as she tried one last time at the end of the first overtime to muscle her way to the basket, she was whistled for a charge, flipping the ball over her head through the net after running over Smith. No basket. The fans storming the court, thinking the Gamecocks had won, had to return to their seats. A second five minutes would decide this one. The Bulldogs seized control when Freeman, the odds-on favorite for Atlantic Sun player-of-the-year, fouled out with four minutes to play in the second overtime.
Samford came well prepared to play, jumping out to an early 12-point leads of 17-5, 19-7 and 21-9. Lindsey Harris scored eight points in the first nine minutes to kick-start the Samford attack. JSU went on an 18-3 run and closed to 27-24 with 5:05 remaining before halftime. Samford fought back, thanks to two 3-point plays and a 3-point field goal by Price before halftime. Price scored the Bulldogs' last nine points of the half, and the Bulldogs led 36-28 at the break.
It was the Freeman show in the final 10 minutes of regulation, as she scored 14 of JSU's 18 points during a crucial 18-10 run in which the Gamecocks closed the gap to one point with 53 seconds to play.
For the game, Cora Beth Smith scored 15 points and Lindsey Harris scored 12 points for the Bulldogs. Chelsee Insell scored 11 points and tied Samford's single season record for 3-pointers made. JSU's Freeman scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds before fouling out.
