March 5, 2010

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The second-seeded Samford women's basketball team held 10th-seeded Elon to just 13 points in the second half on its way to a 57-38 win in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament Friday morning at Bojangles Coliseum.

With the win, Samford (21-9) advances to the tournament semifinals. The Bulldogs will play at 1:30 p.m. (CST) Sunday against the winner of Saturday's game between No. 3 Appalachian State and No. 11 Furman. Elon ends its season with a record of 12-19.

"I thought that was as good a defensive second half as we have had all year," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "It wasn't pretty, but I'm really proud of the effort our girls gave defensively. I was pleased with the fact that we didn't shoot the ball well, but we still won by 19 points."

Samford was led in scoring by junior guard Emily London with 15 points. Senior guard Monica Maxwell scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while fellow senior guard Megan Wilderotter added 11 points. Junior forward Savannah Hill narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds. The 14 rebounds tie a career high for Hill.

For Elon, Kelsey Evans led the way with 13 points and seven rebounds. Leading scorer Ali Ford had nine points on 3-of-13 shooting. Urysla Cotton led the Phoenix in rebounding, pulling down eight boards.

Samford jumped out to an early 12-4 lead with 15:35 to go in the first half after a layup by London. With Samford leading, 14-6, Elon went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-16 lead with 8:02 to go in the opening half.

Samford scored seven of the next 10 points to take the lead back at 23-20 with 2:11 to go in the first half after a basket by Maxwell. Elon scored the next five points to take a 25-23 lead with 32.6 seconds to go in the half. A last-second jumper by Maxwell tied the score at halftime, 25-25.

The Bulldogs scored the first seven points in the second half to take a 32-25 lead with 17:17 to go in the game after a three-pointer by Hannah Dawson. Elon went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to two at 34-32 with 12:17 left in the game.

Samford answered with a 12-2 run to push its lead to 12 at 46-34 with 6:43 to go after a layup by London. With Samford leading, 47-38, the Bulldogs closed the game with a 10-0 run to make the final score 57-38.

Samford shot 40.4 percent from the floor, including 48.0 percent in the second half. The Bulldogs held Elon to just 24.1 percent and just 16.1 percent in the second half. Samford out-rebounded Elon, 42-36.

Sunday's semifinal game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.