Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Samford women's basketball team won its second-straight overtime game with a 65-56 win at Austin Peay Saturday evening.

With the win, Samford's record improves to 18-6 overall and 11-3 in Ohio Valley Conference games. Samford has now won 11 of its last 12 games, including five games in a row. Austin Peay drops to 5-18 overall and 2-12 in conference play.

"We were able to find a way to win tonight and if you are going to be a good team, you have to be able to win games in different ways," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "You have to be able to win when you aren't playing well and you have to be able to win on the road and we were able to do that tonight. This game was a credit to our kids' toughness."

Samford was led in scoring by Emily London with 17 points. Taryn Towns scored 15 points, and Chika Okoli and Alex Munday added 10 points each.

Austin Peay was led by Kellea Reeves with 15 points and Ashlee McGee with 14 points. Janay Armstrong added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Govs.

The teams headed into overtime tied at 52-52. Samford scored the first nine points of the overtime to take a 61-52 lead with 1:26 to play after a jumper by Towns. Austin Peay cut the lead to seven late, but key free throws by Towns helped seal the 65-56 win.

Austin Peay led early in the first half, as the Lady Govs jumped out to a 7-5 lead with 13:27 to go in the half. The Lady Govs pushed the lead out to as much as five points at 14-9 with 10:44 to go in the first half.

With Austin Peay leading, 15-11, Samford went on a 21-2 run to take a 32-17 lead with 2:52 to play in the opening half after a jumper by Munday. Austin Peay scored the next four points to cut the lead to 11 at 32-21, but a late three-pointer by Towns gave Samford a 34-21 halftime lead.

Austin Peay opened the second half with a 13-4 run to cut the Samford lead to four at 38-34 with 12:39 to play. Samford pushed lead back out to nine at 43-34 with 9:12 to go after a pair of free throws by Munday.

With Samford leading, 45-36, Austin Peay went on an 11-2 run to tie the score at 47-47 with 3:51 to go. Austin Peay took its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with 3:12 to go after a layup by Reeves.

With Austin Peay leading, 51-50, Towns hit a layup to give Samford a 52-51 lead with 17 seconds to go. Austin Peay's Alex Bevins made one of two free throws with nine seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 52-52.

Samford will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 14, when the Bulldogs play host to Morehead State at 5:30 p.m. at the Pete Hanna Center. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu/. The game can also be viewed on the internet at www.ovcsports.tv.