Nov. 28, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team used a balanced attack to take a 70-33 win over Norfolk State on the final day of the UAB Thanksgiving Classic Saturday afternoon at Bartow Arena.

"I was very pleased with our team today," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We had a short turnaround after playing pretty well yesterday and I thought we really improved today. This was a complete team effort on both ends of the floor."

Samford was led in scoring by Emily London with 11 points. Hannah Dawson followed London with 10 points, while Savannah Hill, J'Quita Babineaux and Alex Crow added nine points each. Jazmine Martin scored eight points and Paige Anderson added seven for the Bulldogs. Crow led all players in rebounding with a career-high 13 boards.

For Norfolk State, Marquilla Evans led the way with six points. Recca Trice, Whitney Long and Raychele Payne added five points each.

In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early 10-2 lead with 14:37 to go in the period following a three-pointer by Dawson. Samford pushed its lead out to 10 at 16-6 with 7:43 to go after a basket by Crow.

With Samford leading, 21-10, the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to push their lead out to 17 at 29-12 with just over a minute left in the half after a three-pointer by Hill. Samford carried a 29-14 lead into halftime.

Samford scored the first five points of the second half to push its lead out to 20 at 34-14 with 17:59 to go after a three-point play by London. With Samford leading, 46-24, the Bulldogs went on a 21-3 run to push its lead to 40 at 67-27 with 2:49 to go after a layup by Martin. Samford then cruised to the 70-33 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 5-1 on the season. The Bulldogs won both of their games in the UAB Thanksgiving Classic after a 67-53 win over North Texas on Friday. Norfolk State drops to 1-4 on the season with the loss.

For the game, Samford shot 54.2 percent from the floor, while limiting Norfolk State to just 20.5 percent. Samford made 57.1 percent of its three-point attempts, with NSU shooting 16.7 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford outrebounded Norfolk State, 40-23, and the Bulldogs dished out 17 assists, compared to just one for NSU.

Samford will open Southern Conference play on Monday, Nov. 30, when the Bulldogs play host to defending conference champion Chattanooga. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.