Jan. 17, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team had four players score in double figures as the Bulldogs claimed their eighth-straight Southern Conference win in an 87-51 win over Appalachian State Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.

"This was as good of a team effort on both ends of the floor as we've had this season," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "This was a great team victory, and I thought we set the tone defensively, which is something that we talk about a lot."

Three Samford players scored career highs in the game. Senior forward Chika Okoli scored a career-high 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. Freshman forward J'Quita Babineaux scored a career-high 13 points, and freshman guard Paige Anderson had a career-high six points.

Sophomore forward Savannah Hill and junior guard Monica Maxwell scored 12 points each for the Bulldogs. Freshman guard Jazmine Powers had a career-high five assists in the victory.

Appalachian State was led by Brittany Mixon with 14 points and six rebounds. Canesha Edwards and Sade Means scored seven points each for the Mountaineers.

With the win, Samford improves to 13-3 overall and 8-1 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs are currently tied with Chattanooga for first place in the league. ASU drops to 3-13 overall and 2-6 in SoCon play.

Samford jumped on top early, racing out to a 16-2 lead with 13:39 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Maxwell. ASU fought back to cut the lead to eight at 16-8 with 11:49 left in the first half after a jumper by Sam Ramirez.

Samford then went on a 15-5 run to push its lead to 18 at 31-13 with 5:32 to go in the first half after a layup by Okoli. With Samford leading, 33-16, the Bulldogs closed the half with a 10-0 run to take a 43-16 lead into halftime.

Appalachian State cut the Samford lead to 22 at 48-26 with 17:35 to go in the game after a jumper by Karina Mill. Samford then went on a 7-1 run to push its lead out to 28 at 55-27 with 15:52 to go after a three-pointer by Okoli.

ASU cut the lead to 23 at 55-32 with 12:58 to go after a layup by Mixon. With Samford leading, 62-39, the Bulldogs went on a 13-2 run to make the score 75-41 with 4:38 to go after a three-pointer by Babineaux. ASU could get no closer than 31 points the rest of the way and Samford came away with the 87-51 win.

As a team, Samford shot 53.7 percent from the floor, including a 56.5 percent effort from three-point range. Samford held Appalachian State to just 35.7 percent overall and 22.2 percent from three-point range.

Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 19, when the Bulldogs play host to Davidson. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off from the Pete Hanna Center.