Dec. 29, 2010

Box Score

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - The Samford women's basketball team shot a school-record 62.8 percent on its way to a 76-57 win over Central Connecticut State Wednesday night in the first round of the Saint Peter's College Holiday Classic.

Samford shot 61.5 percent in the first half and 64.7 percent in the second half. The previous school record was 61.1 percent set in 1999 at Florida Atlantic.

"I thought, offensively, we started off well," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We obviously scored the ball well and Savannah Hill got us off to a really good start. I thought defensively we lacked a little energy in the first part, but I think a lot of that had to do with them, they played well."

Samford was led in scoring by senior forward Savannah Hill with 21 points, making 9-of-11 shots from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Senior guard Emily London scored 11 points for the Bulldogs. London made 5-of-5 free throws in the game. London has now made 299 free throws in her Samford career, setting a new school record. The previous record was 295 set by Alex Munday from 2003 to 2008.

Samford sophomore forward Brittany Jack scored a career-high 10 points in the game. Junior guard Paige Anderson added nine points for the Bulldogs.

Central Connecticut was led by Justina Udenze with 17 points and five rebounds. Leanne Crockett added 10 points and five rebounds for the Blue Devils.

The game was close through most of the first half, with neither team able to take more than a three-point lead. With the game tied at 19-19, Samford went on a 9-0 run to take a 28-19 lead with 4:07 to go in the first half following a pair of free throws by Jack.

After a three-pointer by Central Connecticut cut the lead to six at 28-22, Samford went on an 8-0 run to push its lead to 14 at 36-22 with 1:53 to go in the opening period after a three-pointer by Anderson. Samford took a 40-24 lead into halftime.

Samford pushed its lead out to 22 early in the second half at 51-29 with 14:45 to go in the game after a layup by Anderson. Samford eventually led by as much as 26 points at 59-33 with 8:48 to go in the game.

Central Connecticut fought back to cut the Samford lead to 18 at 65-47 with 4:32 left in the contest. The Blue Devils, however, could get no closer and Samford came away with the 76-57 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 8-3 on the season. Central Connecticut drops to 6-4 with the loss.

Samford will conclude play in the Saint Peter's College Holiday Classic with a game against the host, Saint Peter's Thursday at 5 p.m. (CT). The game can be hard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.