Jan. 3, 2009

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Savannah Hill scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Samford women's basketball team to a 64-58 Southern Conference win at College of Charleston Saturday afternoon at the Carolina First Arena.

"I thought we played a good 30 minutes of basketball," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We set the right tone to win a conference game on the road in the first 15 minutes or so, and then we let it slip. But, give a lot of credit to our players for coming back. They (Charleston) made a great run to get back in the game. I thought we took one of their best shots and still found a way to win the game."

Hill made 10-of-13 shots from the floor, including a 4-of-5 performance from three-point range. Emily London followed Hill with 15 points, while Monica Maxwell added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

College of Charleston was led by Nikki Williams with 12 points. Tonia Gerty added 11 points for the Cougars.

Samford led throughout the first half. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after a three-pointer and a layup by Hill with 17:27 to go in the first half. With Samford leading, 14-9, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to push its lead to 13 at 22-9 with 8:45 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by Chika Okoli.

Samford led by as much as 14 points in the first half at 29-15 with 5:24 to go in the half. Charleston closed the half with a 9-2 run and Samford took a 31-24 lead into halftime.

In the second half, with Samford leading, 37-29, Charleston went on a 14-0 run to take a 43-37 lead with 10:38 to go in the game after a jumper by Gerty. A three-pointer by London and a layup by Hill cut the Cougars' lead to one at 43-42 with 7:30 to go in the game.

A jumper by Charleston's Ericka Williams push the Cougars' lead back to three at 45-42, but Samford scored the next five points on a three-pointer by London and a pair of free throws by Hill to take a 47-45 lead with 5:27 left in the game.

With Samford leading, 54-50, a three-pointer by Maxwell out of the left corner just before the shot clock expired gave Samford a seven-point lead with 1:30 to go in the game. Samford pushed its lead to as much as nine points at 61-52 with 51 seconds left and the Bulldogs came away with the 64-58 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in Southern Conference play. College of Charleston drops to 8-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

For the game, Samford shot a season-high 52.5 percent from the floor. The Bulldogs made 45.0 percent of their three-point attempts in the game. Charleston shot 37.1 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from three-point range.

Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 5, when the Bulldogs play at Georgia Southern. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Statesboro, Ga.