Dec. 28, 2011

Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Samford women's basketball team dropped an 81-56 decision at the University of Florida Wednesday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

For the game, Samford shot 43.6 percent (17-of-39) overall and 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from three-point range. Florida made 49.2 percent (31-of-63) of its shots overall and 50 percent (8-of-16) from three-point range.

"They shot the ball well," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "They shot 8-for-16 from the arc for the game and 6-for-10 in the first half, and I thought that was the big difference. We made a few mistakes defensively, but a couple of times, they just made some tough threes. When they are making threes, with the other stuff they do, they are really tough to defend."

Samford was led in scoring by senior guard Ruth Ketcham with 16 points. Fellow senior Paige Anderson scored 13 points, while freshman Taylor Reece scored eight points and junior Hannah Dawson added seven points for the Bulldogs.

For Florida, Deana Allen led the way with 17 points. Jaterra Bonds scored 15 points for the Gators, while Jordan Jones added 13 points for Florida. Jennifer George scored 10 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Lanita Bartley also scored 10 points for the Gators.

Florida started the game off hot, jumping out to an early 18-2 lead with 13:47 to go in the half. The Gators pushed their lead to as much as 22 in the first half at 28-6 with 10:05 left in the opening period.

With Samford trailing, 33-15, the Bulldogs went on an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 10 points at 36-26 with 2:09 left in the half after a layup by J'Quita Babineaux. The Gators, however, closed the half with a 7-0 run to take a 43-26 lead into halftime.

Florida opened the second half with a 9-0 run to push its lead out to 26 points at 52-26 with 17:19 to go in the game. Samford scored the next five points to cut the lead to 21 at 52-31 with 16:11 to go following a layup by Ketcham.

The Gators answered with a 9-2 run to push their lead out to 28 points at 61-33 with 13:46 left in the contest. Samford could get no closer than 21 points the rest of the way as Florida came away with the 81-56 win.

Samford drops to 6-6 with the loss. Florida improves to 10-3 with the win.

Samford will return to action on Jan. 7, when the Bulldogs return to Southern Conference action with a game at Georgia Southern. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. (CT) start from Statesboro, Ga.