Feb. 6, 2010

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Samford sophomore Alex Crow scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 57-50 Southern Conference win at College of Charleston Saturday afternoon at Carolina First Arena.

With the win, Samford moves back into a second-place tie with College of Charleston, with both teams holding an 11-4 conference record, two games behind league-leading Chattanooga. Both teams are now 17-7 overall on the season.

"I was so pleased with the way we came out and defended today," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "This was a great team effort defensively. I thought our defensive intensity started with Jazmine Powers. That is a credit to her as a person and as a player. She stepped up and helped us win this game on the road. And then Alex Crow made some big shots. For those two to step up as sophomores against a good team was big for us."

Behind Crow for Samford, Savannah Hill scored 11 points. Paige Anderson, starting in place of the injured Emily London, added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

College of Charleston was led by Tonia Gerty with 14 points and six rebounds. Deidra Jones scored eight points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Cougars.

After falling behind early in the first half, Samford went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-5 lead with 16:00 to go after a layup by Hill. College of Charleston answered with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 14-9 lead with 13:18 left in the first half after a basket by Gerty.

Back-to-back Samford baskets by Crow and Hill cut the Cougars' lead to one at 14-13 with 11:35 left in the opening period. Charleston then hit a layup and a three-pointer to push its lead back to six at 19-13 with 10:30 to go in the first half.

Samford then went on an 11-3 run to take a 24-22 lead with 4:44 to go in the first half after a jumper by Anderson. Samford took a 27-26 lead into halftime.

Samford opened the second half with a 14-2 run to push its lead to 13 at 41-28 with 15:13 to go after a three-pointer by Monica Maxwell. Samford pushed its lead out to 16 at 50-34 with 6:42 to go in the game after a layup by Jazmine Powers.

College of Charleston came back with an 11-2 run to cut the Samford lead to seven at 52-45 with 2:22 to go after a jumper by Jade Hughes. The Cougars, however, could get no closer as Samford came away with the 57-50 win.

As a team, Samford shot 44.4 percent from the floor, while limiting Charleston to 37.3 percent. The Bulldogs forced the Cougars into 16 turnovers, while committing just eight.

Samford will return to action on Monday, Feb. 8, when the Bulldogs play at Georgia Southern. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start.