Jan. 7, 2008

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Samford's Alex Munday and Chika Okoli scored 17 points each to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 67-56 win at Jacksonville State Monday night at the Pete Mathews Coliseum.

"We didn't play well at first in the first half, but once we settled down, they only scored nine points in the last 15 minutes of the half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We came out and were down 10 points right off the bat, but that just shows the toughness of our team to be able to come back."

Behind Munday and Okoli for Samford (10-5, 3-2 OVC), Emily London scored 12 points and Taryn Towns added 11 points for the Bulldogs. Okoli also led the team in rebounding with seven. Okoli's 17 points ties a career high, set earlier this season against Jacksonville State.

Jacksonville State (6-9, 3-3 OVC) was led by Jolie Efezokhae with 17 points. Cierra Duhart added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Gamecocks.

Jacksonville State jumped out to an early 10-4 lead with 16:32 to go in the first half. The Gamecocks pushed their lead out to 10 at 18-8 with just under 10:00 to play in the half.

Samford went on a 13-3 run to tie the score at 21-21 with 5:44 to go in the half following a basket by Munday. With Samford trailing, 23-21, London hit a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs the lead for the first time at 24-23.

Samford pushed its lead out to five at 28-23 with 1:47 to go in the first half after a basket by Monica Maxwell. Samford took a 31-25 lead into halftime.

Samford took a 10-point lead early in the second half at 37-27 with 17:06 to play in the game after a layup by Okoli. Samford led by as much as 11 points at 45-34 with 13:21 to go, but JSU went on a 7-1 run to cut the lead to five at 46-41 with 11:26 to play in the game.

Samford pushed the lead back out to nine at 53-44 with 7:20 to play after a jumper by Munday. With Samford leading, 55-46, JSU went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to three at 55-52 with 4:45 to play. With Samford leading, 59-56, the Bulldogs closed the game with an 8-0 run to take the 67-56 win.

Samford will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 10, when the Bulldogs play host to Tennessee State at 5:30 p.m.