Dec. 19, 2008

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team placed four players in double figures as the Bulldogs defeated Elon, 67-55, in the first Southern Conference basketball game played in the Pete Hanna Center.

"I was pleased with our team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We had some lapses at times, but I thought our team had a good effort and this was a good, solid win."

Monica Maxwell led Samford in scoring with 15 points, making 5-of-5 shots from the floor, including 4-of-4 from three-point range. Emily London scored 14 points, Chika Okoli scored 13 points and Savannah Hill added 12 points.

For Elon, Tiara Gause scored 17 points. Urysla Cotton scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Phoenix.

Samford jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with 18:18 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Maxwell. Elon then cut the lead to two at 7-5. With Samford leading, 10-7, the Bulldogs went on a 13-4 run to push its lead to 12 at 23-11 with 12:36 to go in the half following a three-pointer by London.

Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 18 in the first half at 35-17 with 6:40 to go in the half. With Samford leading, 37-22, Elon closed the half with an 11-4 run to cut Samford's lead to 41-33 at halftime.

Samford pushed its lead back out to 16 at 53-37 with 14:03 to go in the game after a pair of free throws by Megan Wilderotter. Samford led, 55-39, with 12:21 to go, but Elon went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 10 at 55-45 with 9:00 left in the game after a jumper by Gause.

The Phoenix cut the lead to eight at 61-53 with 1:26 to go, but they could get no closer as Samford came away with the 67-55 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in SoCon play. Elon drops to 1-10 overall and 0-5 in league play.

For the game, Samford shot 42.4 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from three-point range. Elon made 47.2 percent of its shots and 36.4 percent of its three-pointers. Samford forced Elon into 21 turnovers, while the Bulldogs committed just nine turnovers in the game.

Samford will next play on Dec. 29, when the Bulldogs play host to UNC Greensboro. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center, and it can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.