Samford University
New Orleans
Second-Half Comeback Lifts Women's Basketball Over New Orleans, 49-40
11.30.07 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2007
NEW ORLEANS - The Samford women's basketball team closed the game with a 13-0 run to earn a 49-40, come from behind win at New Orleans Friday night on the first night of the Four Points By Sheraton Invitational.
The win is the sixth-straight for Samford. Samford shot 18.5 percent in the first half and trailed, 25-13 at halftime. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent in the second half and outscored the Lady Privateers, 36-15 in the second half.
"I was disappointed in the way we played for the first 20 to 25 minutes of the game, but I was proud of our team because this was a hard-fought win in spite of ourselves," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "It was big for us to find a way to win when we weren't playing very well. I was very pleased with the character of our team."
Samford (6-1) was led by Monica Maxwell with 10 points and seven rebounds. Megan Wilderotter scored nine points and Savannah Hill added eight. The win also gives Morris the 75th of his Samford career.
UNO (4-3) was led by Candice McGee with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Samford jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on shots by Maxwell and Wilderotter. UNO answered with a 13-1 run to take a 13-5 lead with 10:44 to play in the first half.
Samford closed to within four points at 17-13 with 4:59 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Taryn Towns. However, the Lady Privateers closed the half with an 8-0 run and they took a 25-13 lead into halftime.
Samford closed to within six at 29-23 early in the second half. The Lady Privateers pushed the lead back out to 10 at 35-25 with 12:50 to play in the game.
With UNO leading, 37-27, Samford went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three at 37-34 with 9:00 to go after a layup by Maxwell. Samford closed to within two at 38-36 on a jumper by Emily London.
UNO's Brittany Helm hit a layup with 5:27 to go to push the Lady Privateers' lead to four at 40-36, but Samford scored the final 13 points of the game to pull away for the win.
After cutting the lead to 40-38, Maxwell hit two free throws to tie the score at 40-40, and Hill hit a three-pointer to give Samford the lead for good with 2:12 to play in the game.
Samford will take on 14th-ranked George Washington Saturday at 1 p.m. on the final day of the tournament. GWU fell to UNLV, 62-61, Friday night.
