Dec. 20, 2010

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Samford women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 67-66 decision at Georgia Southern in Southern Conference action Monday evening at GSU's Hanner Fieldhouse.

Samford overcame an early 14-point deficit, but was unable to come away with the win. The loss ends a seven-game win streak as the Bulldogs fall to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in SoCon play. Georgia Southern improves to 4-8 overall and 2-2 in league play.

"I was disappointed in the way we defended for the first 14 or 15 minutes of the game," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I didn't think we were really committed to guarding. I was pleased with the way we fought back and cut it to one at halftime. I thought we defended better in the second half. We played a team that is playing well and they shot the ball well tonight."

Samford was led in scoring by senior forward Savannah Hill with 24 points. Freshman guard Shelby Campbell scored a career-high 13 points for the Bulldogs.

Georgia Southern was led in scoring by MiMi DuBose with 17 points. Meredyth Frye had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jamie Navarro added 12 points for the Lady Eagles.

Georgia Southern raced out to an early 17-3 lead with 14:25 to go in the first half. Samford, however, came back with a 13-3 run to cut the lead to four at 20-16 with 9:45 to go in the half after a jumper by Jazmine Martin.

The Lady Eagles pushed their lead back out to 11 at 28-17 and 30-19. Samford then went on a 9-1 run to cut the lead to three at 31-28 with 4:45 to go in the half after a tree-pointer by Hill. Samford took the lead for the first time at 37-35 after a pair of free throws by Paige Anderson. A late GSU three-pointer gave the Lady Eagles a 38-37 halftime lead.

In the second half, GSU took an early three-point lead at 42-39 with 17:40 to go in the game. Samford then went on a 9-0 run to take a 48-42 lead with 14:47 to go after a three-pointer by Hill. The Lady Eagles fought back to cut the lead to one at 53-52 with 11:00 to go in the game.

Samford then pushed the lead back out to five at 58-53 with 8:48 left in the game after a jumper by Ruth Ketcham. GSU scored the next four points to cut the lead to one at 58-57 with 7:04 to go in the game.

After a jumper by Hill gave Samford a 60-57 lead, GSU scored eight of the next 12 points to take a 65-64 lead with 2:33 to go after a three-pointer by DuBose. Samford took the lead again at 66-65 on a jumper by Hill with 46 seconds to go. GSU's Krista Tate hit a layup with 19 seconds left to give the Lady Eagles the 67-66 lead. Samford had one last chance to win the game, but a jumper by Emily London fell just short and GSU came away with the win.

As a team, Samford shot 50 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three-point range. The Bulldogs, however, made just 13-of-21 free-throw attempts in the game. GSU shot 44.7-percent overall and 52.6 percent from three-point range. The Lady Eagles out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 38-20.

The game was Samford's final game before the Christmas break. The Bulldogs will return to action on Dec. 29, when they take on the Ole Miss Rebels in the first round of the St. Peter's Christmas Tournament. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. (CT) start from Jersey City, N.J.