Nov. 24, 2009

Box Score

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Samford women's basketball team fell behind early and could not catch up as the Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season, 76-49, Tuesday evening at Maryland.

"I was really disappointed in the way we started the game," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I was disappointed in the way we responded in the first 10 minutes and that is the head coach's responsibility, to have your team prepared to fight and we weren't. I was pleased with the last 30 minutes of the game when we played them, relatively even. But, I think the game was decided in the first 10 or 12 minutes."

Samford was led by Savannah Hill with 14 points and seven rebounds. Paige Anderson had 10 points and five rebounds, while Emily London added 10 points and four rebounds. Hannah Dawson tied Hill for the team lead in rebounding with seven.

For Maryland, Lynetta Kizer scored 20 points, making 8-of-8 shots from the floor. Tianna Hawkins scored 14 points for the Terrapins, while Dara Taylor and Lori Bjork added 11 points each.

After Samford grabbed an early 2-1 lead, Maryland scored the next 16 points to take a 17-2 lead with 13:55 to go in the first half. The Terrapins pushed their lead out to 24 points at 30-6 with 9:08 left in the opening half.

Samford came back to cut the lead to 20 at 34-14 with 7:21 to go in the half following a three-point play by London. Maryland took a 43-23 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Maryland pushed its lead out to as much as 29 at 62-33 with 9:53 to play. Samford then went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 21 at 64-43 with 6:27 to go in the game.

Samford could get no closer than 21 the rest of the way as the Terrapins came away with the 76-49 win over the Bulldogs.

As a team, Samford shot 35.8 percent from the floor, compared to Maryland's 50.8 percent. The Terrapins made 44.4 percent of their three-point attempts, while Samford made 23.5 percent of its three-pointers.

With the loss, Samford drops to 3-1 on the season. Maryland improves to 4-1 with the win.

Samford will return to action on Friday and Saturday when the Bulldogs take part in the UAB Thanksgiving Classic. Samford will take on North Texas on Friday at 4 p.m., and Norfolk State on Saturday at 1 p.m. from UAB's Bartow Arena.