Nov. 27, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team opened the UAB Thanksgiving Classic with a 67-53 win over North Texas Friday afternoon at Bartow Arena.

"I thought we had a good effort, particularly defensively," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I am very proud of our team for the way we bounced back after a tough loss to Maryland. I thought we did a good job of playing the way we want to play, and I am very pleased with this win."

With the win, Samford improves to 4-1 on the season. North Texas falls to 2-4 with the loss.

Samford was led by Emily London with 17 points, making 12-of-13 free-throw attempts. Paige Anderson and J'Quita Babineaux scored 10 points each for the Bulldogs. Monica Maxwell, Hannah Dawson and Savannah Hill added eight points apiece.

For North Texas, Denetra Kellum scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Niq'ky Hughes scored 12 points and Jasmine Godbolt added 11 points for the Mean Green.

In the first half, Samford built an early five-point lead at 9-4 with 15:17 to go in the period after a layup by Dawson. The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to eight at 17-9 with 11:05 left after a basket by Hill.

Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 15 in the first half at 28-13 with 2:26 left in the half after a layup by Babineaux. North Texas closed the half with a 7-2 run to cut Samford's lead to 10 at halftime, 30-20.

North Texas opened the second half with an 8-2 run to cut the Samford lead to four at 32-28 with 15:36 to play. Samford scored the next five points to push its lead back out to nine at 37-28 with 13:08 to go after a pair of free throws by Anderson.

Samford pushed its lead out to 18 at 61-43 with 4:13 to play after a jumper by Babineaux. North Texas could get no closer than 14 the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 67-53 win.

As a team, Samford shot 43.2 percent from the floor, including a 36.4 percent effort from three-point range. Samford out-rebounded North Texas, 35-29.

Samford will wrap up play in the UAB Thanksgiving Classic by taking on Norfolk State Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu.