Nov. 20, 2006

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Veronica Pike scored 20 points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds, and Chelsee Insell scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Samford women's basketball team to a 73-66 win over Birmingham-Southern Monday night at Seibert Hall.

"I was pleased with the entire game except for probably the last two minutes," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We made some shots and got some back cuts and then I thought we relaxed, but that is a credit to Birmingham-Southern.

"They defended us well, and they are a well-coached team, so I knew they were not going to quit," Morris said. "Overall, I was very pleased, I thought we played well as a team for most of the game."

Samford (2-1) jumped out to an early 10-4 lead with 14:11 to go in the first half on a pair of free throws by Pike. BSC (1-3) closed the lead to one at 16-15 with 10:47 to go in the first half. The Panthers took the lead at 23-21 with 8:00 to go on a three-pointer by Britni Ballard. The teams went back and forth for the next few minutes until Samford took the lead for good at 29-28 with 2:22 to go in the half on a layup by Pike. Samford took a 32-28 lead into halftime.

Chelsee Insell scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds Monday night against Birmingham-Southern.

Samford quickly pushed its lead to 12 at 40-28 with 16:26 to go in the game on a layup by Pike. BSC answered with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to three at 42-39 with 12:57 to go on a free throw by Reba Ross. Samford scored the next five points to make the score 47-39 with 12:08 to go on a jumper by Tish Pilkerton.

After BSC cut the Samford lead to three at 47-44, Samford went on a 10-2 run to push its lead to 11 at 57-46 with 6:19 to go on a three-pointer by Insell. Samford increased its lead to 15 at 67-52 with 2:02 to go on a free throw by Pike. The Panthers then went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to seven at 67-60 with 1:03 to go on a free throw by Ballard. The Bulldogs pushed their lead back out to 10 at 70-60, and Samford held on for the 73-66 win.

Samford will return to action on Friday, November 24, when the Bulldogs take on Alabama A&M on the first day of the Sheraton Thanksgiving Classic at Birmingham-Southern's Bill Battle Coliseum. Samford takes on Centenary on the second day of the tournament on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for 5:00 p.m. starts.