March 6, 2009
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -
The Samford women's basketball team opened its first-ever Southern Conference Tournament with a 58-49 win over UNC Greensboro Friday morning at the McKenzie Arena.
"I was very pleased with our team effort," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "One of the things we talked about, coming into this tournament that we needed to get back to was working hard. And I thought we had as good of an effort for 40 minutes as we have had all year."
With the win, Samford advances to the tournament semifinals. Samford's next game will be Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (CT) against the winner of Saturday's game between Western Carolina and Elon.
For Samford in the game, Chika Okoli led the team with 15 points and seven rebounds. Eleven of Okoli's 15 points came in the second half. Emily London and Savannah Hill had 12 points each for the Bulldogs. London was 4-of-6 from the free-throw line, ending a streak of 56-consecutive made free-throw attempts.
UNC Greensboro was led by Lakiah Hyson with 13 points and seven rebounds. Gini Grimsley had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Spartans.
In the first half, Samford raced out to an early 11-4 lead with 13:00 to go in the half after a jumper by Karmen Smith. UNC Greensboro came back with a 13-2 run to take a 19-15 lead with 4:27 to go in the first half after a basket by Hyson.
Samford answered with a 12-2 run to take a 27-21 lead late in the half after a layup by Okoli. A basket by UNCG's Agne Girstautaite with one second to go made the halftime score 27-23.
Samford pushed its lead out to seven early in the second half at 32-25 and 34-27. UNCG fought back to cut the lead back to four at 38-34 with 13:27 to go in the game. Samford then went on a 16-4 run to push its lead out to 16 at 54-38 with 5:05 to go after a three-pointer by London.
UNCG answered with an 11-2 run to cut the Samford lead to seven at 56-49 with 1:38 to go in the game after a jumper by Monique Floyd. UNCG, however, could get no closer and Samford came away with the 58-49 win.
For the game, Samford shot 44.2 percent from the floor, including a 50 percent effort in the second half. UNCG made 34.5 percent of its shots from the floor. Samford forced the Spartans into 15 turnovers, while committing just 10 of their own.
Sunday's semifinal game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Check back to www.samfordsports.com Saturday evening to find out who will be Samford's semifinal opponent.
