Feb. 1, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team's second-half comeback fell just short as the Bulldogs dropped a 60-59 decision to Elon in a Southern Conference contest Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.

"Elon is well-coached, they are a tough team, they are athletic and they shot the ball well," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "They just came in and took the game, so give credit to them. We got down early, but we worked our way back and got the game back to where we wanted it, but just had some costly turnovers down the stretch. We have to be tougher and we have to take care of the ball better."

Samford was led by Savannah Hill with 21 points and seven rebounds. Paige Anderson scored 13 points, while Megan Wilderotter added nine points for the Bulldogs. Hannah Dawson had seven rebounds to tie Hill for the team lead in that category.

As a team, Samford, playing without top scorer Emily London who missed the game with a knee injury, shot just 37.3 percent from the floor, including a 23.8-percent effort from three-point range. Elon shot 43.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Elon was led by Lei Lei Hairston with 15 points and six rebounds. Ali Ford scored 13 points, while Urysla Cotton added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.

In the first half, Elon jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with 16:45 to go in the first half. Samford scored the next five points to take a 9-7 lead with 14:00 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Hill. With Samford leading, 11-9, Elon went on a 10-0 run to take a 19-11 lead with 10:51 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Hairston.

Samford answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one at 19-18 with 8:40 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Anderson. Elon pushed its lead back out to five at 25-20 with 3:25 left in the opening period.

Samford fought back to tie the game at 25-25 with 1:40 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by Monica Maxell. Elon's Hairston hit a three-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half to give the Phoenix a 28-25 lead heading into halftime.

Elon opened the second half with a 9-2 run to push its lead out to 10 at 37-27 with 17:00 to go following a three-pointer by Ford. Samford answered with a 9-2 run of its own to cut the lead back to three at 39-36 with 14:50 left in the game after a three-pointer by Wilderotter.

The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes until Elon pushed its lead back out to seven at 49-42 with 9:18 to go after a three-point play by Hairston. Samford scored the next five points to cut the lead back to two at 49-47 with 8:35 to go after a layup by Wilderotter.

Elon pushed its lead back out to six at 55-49 with 5:40 to go after a three-pointer by Ford. With Elon leading, 57-51, Samford went on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 57-57 with 1:47 to go after a pair of free throws by Hill.

After a layup by Ford gave Elon a 59-57 lead, Samford's Jazmine Powers hit two free throws with 1:05 to go to tie the score at 59-59. Hairston made one-of-two free throws to give Elon a 60-59 lead with 38 seconds left in the game, but Elon's Courtney Medley grabbed the offensive rebound for the Phoenix.

Elon's Tiffany Davis then missed the front end of a one-and-one with 28 seconds left giving Samford another chance. The Bulldogs, however, were unable to capitalize and Elon came away with the 60-59 win.

With the loss, Samford drops to 16-7 overall and 10-4 in SoCon play, dropping the Bulldogs to third place in the league standings. Elon improves to 9-14 overall and 4-10 in league play.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 6, when the Bulldogs play at second-place College of Charleston. The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. (CT) start and it will be televised live on SportSouth.