Dec. 18, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Sophomore forward Alex Munday scored a career-high 31 points and led the team with seven rebounds as the Samford women's basketball team defeated Southeast Missouri, 91-76, Sunday afternoon at Seibert Hall.

The win runs Samford's win streak to six games, the longest in the eight-plus seasons of the program, and it marked the first win for Samford over Southeast Missouri in six games. The 91 points were the most for Samford since Dec. 19, 1999, when the Bulldogs defeated Centenary, 100-67.

"I was really pleased with our team in the second half in that we held them to 20 percent from three-point range and 36 percent from the field," Samford head coach Morris said. "The game got too fast in the first half, but we slowed it down. We were still able to score, but we defended them better."

Behind Munday for Samford (6-1, 2-0 OVC), Cora Beth Smith scored 12 points, and Taryn Towns and Megan Wilderotter added 10 points apiece. Chelsee Insell, returning from an injury and playing for the first time since the season-opener at Miami, tied the Samford career-record for three-pointers with her 112th career three-pointer midway through the first half.

Southeast Missouri (4-5, 1-2 OVC) wad led by Tatiana Conceicao with 18 points. Tarina Nixon followed with 17 points and Tiffanne Ryan added 11 points for the Redhawks.

Samford jumped out to an early lead at 12-7 with 16:12 to go in the first half on a three-pointer by Tish Pilkerton. The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to nine at 20-11 with 11:18 to go in the half on a three-point play by Andrea Ward.

SEMO came back to outscored Samford, 27-6 over the next seven minutes to take a 38-26 lead with 4:25 to go in the first half. Samford then scored 15 of the next 20 points to cut the lead to two at 43-41 with 1:11 to go in the half on a pair of free throws by Ward. Samford tied the game at 45-45 with five seconds remaining, but a three-pointer at the buzzer by Nixon gave the Redhawks a 48-45 halftime lead.

Samford took the lead early in the second half at 54-52 on a layup by Munday with 15:30 to go in the game. The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes. With SEMO leading, 63-60, Samford went on a 13-0 run to take the lead for good at 73-63 with 4:51 to go in the game on a free throw by Munday. The Redhawks could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way and Samford pulled away at the end for the 15-point win, 91-76.

Samford will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 20, when the Bulldogs play host to Murray State at 7:00 p.m. at Seibert Hall.