Feb. 18, 2006

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Junior guard Chelsee Insell scored 23 points and hit a school record seven three-pointers to lead the Samford women's basketball team to a 75-59 win over Eastern Kentucky Saturday afternoon at Seibert Hall. The win assures Samford of a home game in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Seniors Cora Beth Smith and Andrea Ward were honored prior to the game, which was their last regular-season game at Seibert Hall.

"To see our two seniors walk off the floor with 18 victories is really special," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We played one of our better games when we had a lot at stake."

Following Insell for Samford (18-7, 13-5 OVC) was Taryn Towns with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. Alex Munday scored 12 points, and Karmen Smith added a career-high 11 points for the Bulldogs. As a team, Samford tied a school record with 12 three-pointers in the game.

Eastern Kentucky (6-19, 6-11 OVC) was led by Jayme Thiem and Ashley Cazee with 14 points each. Laura Shelton added 13 points for the Lady Colonels.

Samford jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but EKU answered with a 7-2 run to take a 9-7 lead with 16:10 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Cazee. Samford then went on a 10-0 run to take a 17-9 lead with 13:22 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Insell.

Taryn Towns had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists in Saturday's 75-59 win over Eastern Kentucky.

Samford pushed its lead to 14 at 25-11 at the 9:57 mark in the first half after a three-pointer by Karmen Smith. EKU then went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 25-19 with 7:38 left in the first half. Samford answered with an 11-2 run to push its lead out to 15 at 36-21 with 3:40 to go in the half after a layup by Towns. Samford carried a 40-30 lead into halftime.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to 13 early in the second half at 45-32 with 16:58 to go in the game. EKU came back to cut the lead to seven at 45-38 at the 15:15 mark in the game. Samford scored the next 11 points to push its lead to 18 at 56-38 with 10:47 to go after a pair of free throws by Veronica Pike.

EKU answered with a 12-0 run of its own to cut the lead to six at 56-50 with 8:47 to go in the game after a three-pointer by Thiem. Samford pushed its lead to 18 again at 70-52 following a 14-2 run with 3:27 left in the game after a three-pointer by Insell. Samford led by as much as 21 at 75-54, and the Bulldogs came away with the 75-59 win.

Samford will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 23, when the Bulldogs play at Southeast Missouri at 5:00 p.m. in Cape Girardeau, Mo.