Jan. 2, 2007

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Taryn Towns scored 16 points and Veronica Pike added 15 to lead the Samford women's basketball team to a 66-44 victory over Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech Tuesday night at Seibert Hall.

"Our goal coming into this game was to try and play a 40-minute complete game, and I think we had about 30 minutes of good basketball tonight," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I'm so proud of our team. It was a great team effort and I am just so pleased with our entire effort tonight."

Behind Towns and Pike for Samford (7-6, 2-2 OVC), Alex Munday scored 11 points and Tish Pilkerton added nine. Pike led Samford in rebounding with eight, while Pilkerton added seven.

For Tennessee Tech (2-11, 1-3 OVC), Meagan Lyons led the way with 11 points and six rebounds. Cara Reed also scored 11 points for the Golden Eagles.

Tennessee Tech grabbed an early 6-3 lead, but Samford went on a 17-0 run to take a 20-6 lead with 7:25 to play following a jumper by Munday. After Tech cut the lead back to nine at 20-11, Samford went on a 10-4 run to take a 30-15 lead with 16 seconds to go. A three-pointer at the buzzer by TTU's Blair Bowens made the score 30-18 at halftime.

Samford pushed its lead to 21 early in the second half at 39-18 following two free throws by Towns. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 16 at 40-24, but Samford pushed the lead back out to 20 at 44-24 with 12:33 to go following a layup by Munday.

Samford pushed its lead to 24 at 55-31 with 8:15 to go after a free throw by Pike. Tennessee Tech could get no closer than 19 points the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 66-44 victory.

Samford will return to action Thursday, Jan. 4, when the Bulldogs play host to Tennessee-Martin. The game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. start from Seibert Hall.