Nov. 14, 2008
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -
A strong defensive effort led the Samford women's basketball team to a 68-55 season-opening win at Jacksonville State Friday night.
"I was very pleased with our defensive effort, pretty much the entire night," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We played 35 to 36 minutes of good defensive basketball and that is what it takes to win on the road."
Samford forced Jacksonville State into 21 turnovers, while committing just 12.
Offensively for Samford, Monica Maxwell led Samford with 16 points and five rebounds. Karmen Smith scored 12 points and Chika Okoli and Savannah Hill added 11 points each.
Jacksonville State was led by Charlease Williams with 19 points and Jolie Efezokhae added 17 points and eight rebounds.
Jacksonville State jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with 17:20 to play in the first half after a basket by Efezokhae. Samford came back to take the lead at 10-9 with 13:40 to go in the first half after a layup by Hill. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to four at 15-11 with 11:05 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Smith.
JSU scored the next five in a row to retake the lead at 16-15 with 9:41 to go in the half after a basket by Williams. With Samford leading, 19-16, JSU closed the half with a 7-2 run as the Gamecocks took a 23-21 lead into halftime.
With JSU leading, 27-22 early in the second half, Samford went on a 14-5 run to take a 36-32 lead with 13:38 to go after a three-pointer by Maxwell. Samford pushed its lead out to seven at 42-35 with 10:16 to play after a free throw by Okoli.
With Samford leading, 46-41, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to push their lead to 54-41 with 4:40 to go after a jumper by J'Quita Babineaux. JSU cut the Samford lead to six at 60-54, but the Gamecocks could get no closer as Samford came away with the 68-55 win.
The win was Samford's seventh in the last eight meetings with JSU. It was Samford's first season-opening win since the 2004-05 season.
Samford will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 18, when the Bulldogs play at Alabama. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m. from Coleman Coliseum.
