Nov. 15, 2009

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Samford women's basketball team overcame an 18-point deficit in the second half to earn a win in its first road game of the season Sunday at Evansville, 69-66, at Roberts Gym.

"I am extremely proud of our team for coming back and not giving up," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "It is a testament to our kids to not give up and find a way to win. I am also proud of our bench (reserve players), they made a big difference, especially in the second half. Even though we won, we have to learn a lesson from this game, because we were both very good and very bad at times during this game."

Monica Maxwell led Samford with 17 points, while Emily London and Savannah Hill scored 16 points each. London made 6-of-9 shots from the floor, and was the team's leading rebounder with six. Megan Wilderotter led the team in assists with four. Wilderotter and freshman Hannah Dawson added seven points apiece to the winning effort.

Evansville was led by Chelsea Falkenstein with 14 points and nine rebounds. Samantha Heck scored 13 points, while Amy Gallagher and Chelsea Hawkins added 11 points each.

The Bulldogs trailed, 52-34 with 13:21 to go in the game and 56-39 with just 9:42 left. Samford, however, went on a 22-5 run over a nearly six-minute period to tie the score at 61-61 with 3:47 to play in the game. In Samford's run, Maxwell and London scored nine points each to lead the comeback.

Samford took its first lead of the second half when Hill hit a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 66-64 lead with 1:48 to go in the game. After Evansville tied the game with a pair of free throws, three free throws by Maxwell down the stretch gave Samford the 69-66 win.

Evansville held a six-point lead at halftime, 35-29. The Purple Aces opened the second half with an 11-1 run to push their lead to 14 at 46-32 with 15:27 to go in the game. After Samford cut the lead to 12 at 46-34, Evansville scored the next four points to grab their largest lead at 52-34 with 13:21 to go.

Samford cut the lead to 14 at 53-39 with 11:12 to go, but a jumper and a free throw by Falkenstein pushed the lead to 17 at 56-39 with 9:42 to go, setting the stage for the Bulldogs' comeback.

For the game, Samford shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the floor and 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from three-point range. Evansville made 42.2 percent (19-of-45) of its shots and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) of its three-pointers.

Samford committed just 10 turnovers, while forcing Evansville into 16 turnovers. Evansville won the rebounding battle, pulling down 38 boards to Samford's 28.

With the win, Samford improves to 2-0 on the season, while Evansville drops to 0-2 with the loss.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 21, when the Bulldogs play at McNeese State. The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. tip-off.