Jan. 16, 2011

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 71-62 Southern Conference contest at Davidson Sunday afternoon at Belk Arena.

With the loss, Samford drops to 12-6 overall and 5-4 in SoCon play. Davidson improves to 6-9 overall and 2-5 in league play.

The Bulldogs held a 14-point lead late in the first half and a three-point lead at halftime. The loss is the second consecutive for the Bulldogs, losing at Appalachian State Friday night after holding a 17-point halftime lead.

"I think the biggest thing that is that we are wearing down," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "Obviously in the second half at App. State and in the second half here we just wore down, mentally and physically. We have to do a better job of building our bench and making it stronger as we continue conference play."

Samford was led in scoring by Emily London with 16 points. Hannah Dawson scored a career-high 15 points, while Savannah Hill added 14 points. Ruth Ketcham scored nine points for Samford in the loss. Dawson and London shared the team lead in rebounding with six each.

For Davidson, Sophia Aleksandravicius scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Laura Murray had 17 points and eight rebounds. Shneeka Center scored 12 points and Kristen Johnsen added 11 points for the Wildcats.

Samford got off to a strong start in the first half, running out to a 9-2 lead with 14:52 to go in the first half after a basket by Hill. Samford pushed its lead out to 10 points at 14-4 with 12:44 to go in the half after a basket by London.

Davidson fought back to cut the lead to five points at 17-12. Samford, however answered with a 9-0 run to push its lead to 14 at 26-12 with 5:30 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Dawson. Davidson closed the half with an 11-0 run to cut the Samford lead to 26-23 at halftime.

An early basket by Hill gave Samford a five-point lead at 28-23 with 18:57 to go. Davidson, however, scored the next eight points to take a 31-28 lead with 16:59 to go following a three-pointer by Murray. A three-point play by Hill tied the score at 31-31 with 15:48 left in the game.

With the score tied at 33-33, Davidson went on an 8-2 run to take a 41-35 lead with 11:56 left in the game. After a three-pointer by Dawson cut the Davidson lead to three at 41-38, the Wildcats went on a 14-4 run to push its lead to 13 points at 55-42 with 7:46 to go after a three-pointer by Ashley Lax.

Samford fought back to cut the Davidson lead to four points at 61-57 and 63-59, but a 6-0 run by Davidson put the game away, giving the Wildcats a 10-point lead at 69-59 with 31 seconds to go. Davidson came away with the 71-62 win.

For the game, Samford shot 37.3 percent overall and 45.8 percent from three-point range. Davidson hit 50 percent of its shots, including a 70.8-percent effort in the second half. The Wildcats made 45.5 percent of their three-pointers.

Samford will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 19, when the Bulldogs play host to Chattanooga. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.