Jan. 26, 2006

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team earned a 59-50 win over the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks Thursday night at Seibert Hall.

"I'm proud of the way our team played down the stretch," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We had some people step up and make some plays. Tennessee-Martin is a tough team to play against. This was a good win."

Samford (14-4, 9-2 OVC) was led by Chelsee Insell with 14 points, making four of her five shots from three-point range. Alex Munday, Taryn Towns and Veronica Pike added seven points apiece for the Bulldogs.

For Tennessee-Martin (5-12, 3-7 OVC), Andreika Jackson and Crystal Fuller each scored 15 points and pulled down six rebounds.

After falling behind early, 4-2, Samford went on a 10-2 run to take a 12-6 lead following a three-point play by Pike. With Samford leading, 16-12, the Bulldogs went on a 12-2 run to push their lead to 14 at 28-14 with 3:20 to go in the first half after a pair of free throws by Insell. Samford pushed its lead to 15 in the first half at 31-16, and the Bulldogs took a 33-20 lead into halftime.

Tennessee-Martin opened the second half with a 7-2 run to cut the Samford lead to eight at 35-27 with 14:44 left in the game. Tennessee-Martin cut the Samford lead to six at 44-38, but Samford went on an 8-2 run to push its lead back to 12 at 52-40 with 4:55 to go in the game following a layup by Pike. The Skyhawks could get no closer than eight the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 59-50 win.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 28, when the Bulldogs play host to Austin Peay at 4:00 p.m. at Seibert Hall.