Jan. 24, 2009
Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
The Samford women's basketball team placed three players in double figures as the Bulldogs defeated the Furman Paladins, 62-40, Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center. The win marks Samford's 10th-straight Southern Conference win and ninth-straight win overall.
Samford made 52.2 percent of its shots, including a 47.6 percent effort from three-point range. Furman made 28.8 percent of its shots overall and 18.2 percent from three-point range.
"I thought our defense set the tone in the first half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "That is what we try to do and we had another great effort defensively. I think their height bothered us initially, but I thought we were able to set the tone with our defense."
Samford was led in scoring by sophomore forward Savannah Hill with 20 points. Sophomore guard Emily London had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Megan Wilderotter contributed 11 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.
For Furman, Katie Johnson led the Paladins with 14 points and eight rebounds. Kendra Berry added eight points and seven rebounds for Furman.
Samford's 10-game SoCon win streak and nine-game overall win streak are both program bests. The Bulldogs improve to 15-3 overall and 10-1 in SoCon play with the win, while Furman drops to 10-10 overall and 4-7 in league play.
Samford shot a blistering 65.2 percent from the floor and 75.0 percent from three-point range in the first half to build a 37-18 lead heading into halftime. The Bulldogs used a 17-3 run to break the game open at 27-9 with 7:44 to go in the half.
In the second half, Samford led by as much as 27 points at 49-22 with 16:00 to go. Furman cut the lead to 19 at 49-30, but could get no closer the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 62-40 win.
Samford, the national leader in fewest turnovers per game, committed 11 turnovers in the first half, but just four in the second half. The Bulldogs forced Furman into 14 turnovers on the day.
Samford will wrap up its four-game homestand on Monday when the Bulldogs play host to Wofford 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/wvsu.
