Dec. 21, 2009

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The UNC Greensboro women's basketball team used a 16-0 run in the second half to grab the lead for good on its way to a 55-47 win over Samford in a Southern Conference contest Monday afternoon at Fleming Gymnasium.

"We shot 15-for-50 and we aren't going to beat anybody if we do that," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We were ahead, 37-30, and they came back and we were down 46-37, and that was the difference in the game. Give credit to Greensboro, they are fighters."

With the loss, Samford drops to 8-4 overall and 3-2 in Southern Conference play. UNC Greensboro improves to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in league play.

Samford was led by Savannah Hill with 11 points and six rebounds. Emily London scored nine points, while Monica Maxwell had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

UNC Greensboro was led by Lakiah Hyson and Monique Floyd with 13 points each. Amy Clapper added 10 points for the Spartans.

In the first half, the game was close throughout. Samford's largest lead was four points at 6-2 and 10-6. UNC Greensboro's largest first half lead was two points at 2-0, 15-13 and 19-17. The Spartans took a 25-24 lead into halftime.

UNC Greensboro pushed its lead to three points early in the second half at 30-27 with 18:03 to go in the game. Samford came back with a 10-0 run to take a 37-30 lead, the Bulldogs' largest lead of the game with 13:00 left in the game.

The Spartans answered Samford's run with a 16-0 run of their own to take a 46-37 lead with 7:00 to play. Samford then scored eight of the next 10 points to cut the lead to three at 48-45 with 2:03 to play after a jumped by London.

After a pair of free throws by Floyd pushed the Spartans' lead back out to five at 50-45, a jumper by Hill cut the lead back to three at 50-47 with 45 seconds to play. UNC Greensboro, however, scored the final five points to pull away for the 55-47 win.

For the game, Samford shot 30.0 percent from the floor, including a 16.7 percent effort from three-point range. UNC Greensboro made 37.5 percent of its shots and 14.3 percent of its three-pointers. Samford out-rebounded the Spartans, 38-35, and the Bulldogs committed 18 turnovers to UNCG's 17.

Samford will return to action on Dec. 28, when the Bulldogs play at the University of Virginia in the first round of the Marriott Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start.