Nov. 16, 2011

Box Score

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Samford sophomore guard Shelby Campbell scored a career-high 21 points and the Bulldogs' defense held Alabama State to just 28.3 percent shooting as the Samford women's basketball team took a 62-51 win over the Lady Hornets Wednesday evening at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

"I was definitely pleased with our offense in the first half and our defense in the second half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "This is always a tough place to play, and I was pleased with the effort of our team."

Campbell made 8-of-12 shots from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Taylor Reece scored 10 points, while Jazmine Powers and Jazmine Martin added seven points each. In addition to her seven points, Powers dished out five assists. Martin and Campbell shared the team lead in rebounding, pulling down five boards each.

"Shelby showed exactly what she can do from an offensive standpoint," Morris said. "She is a player who can score in a lot of different ways. But, this was a good team effort to beat a good Alabama State team."

As a team, Samford shot 47.7 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from three-point range. The Lady Hornets made just 25 percent of their three-pointers.

For Alabama State, Kierra Paige led the way with 15 points. Danielle Gazaway scored 13 points, while Tamara Wadlington added 10 points for the Lady Hornets.

Samford jumped out to an early 9-4 lead with 16:40 to go in the first half after a free throw by Powers. Alabama State scored the next five points to tie the score at 9-9 with 15:47 left in the opening half. Samford answered with a 9-2 run to take an 18-11 lead with 12:17 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Campbell.

ASU fought back to cut the Samford lead to four at 20-16. Samford, however went on a 14-0 run to push its lead to 34-16 with 5:03 left in the first half following a jumper by Powers. ASU could get no closer than 12 points for the remainder of the first half, and the Bulldogs took a 39-26 lead into halftime.

Alabama State cut the Samford lead to nine points at 43-34 early in the second half. Samford, however, went on a 14-3 run to push its lead out to 20 points at 57-37 with 5:45 to go in the game after a three-pointer by Kendall Schwantz.

The Lady Hornets fought back to close to within 11 points at 60-49 with 1:00 remaining in the contest. That was as close as ASU could get as Samford came away with the 62-51 win.

With the win, Samford improves to 2-1 on the season, while Alabama State drops to 0-2.

Samford will return to action on Friday, Nov. 25, when the Bulldogs take on Western Kentucky on the first day of UAB Thanksgiving Classic. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start from Bartow Arena.