Dec. 3, 2011

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Samford women's basketball team opened Southern Conference play with a 61-53 loss at UNC Greensboro Saturday afternoon at UNCG's Fleming Gymnasium.

A late first-half run by the Spartans gave UNC Greensboro a seven-point lead heading into halftime, and Samford could get no closer than three points in the second half on its way to the eight-point loss.

"I thought Greensboro did a really good job defensively in the first half and they were ready to play," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I was disappointed that we didn't punch back earlier. Give the credit to them, they did a great job of executing. I was just disappointed that we didn't respond quicker."

With the loss, Samford drops to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in Southern Conference play. UNCG improves to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in league play.

Samford was led offensively by Paige Anderson with 13 points, all in the second half. Taylor Reece had 12 points and six rebounds in the loss. Hannah Dawson and Christy Robinson added eight points each for the Bulldogs.

For UNC Greensboro, Natalie Headley led the way with 18 points. Jarae Savage and Dayshaun Richbow added 12 points and seven rebounds each.

The teams traded baskets in the early part of the first half. UNC Greensboro built a 12-8 lead with 11:52 to go in the first half. Samford fought back to tie the score at 16-16 with 9:28 left in the opening half after a three-pointer by Dawson.

Samford took the lead at 18-16 with 8:43 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by Ruth Ketcham. With Samford leading, 20-18, UNCG closed the half with a 9-0 run, holding Samford scoreless for the final eight minutes of the half, to give the Spartans a 27-20 halftime lead.

UNCG built its lead to 11 at 33-22 with 16:56 left in the game after a jumper by Savage. Samford answered with an 8-0 run to cut the Spartans' lead to three at 33-30 with 13:58 left after a layup by Anderson. The Spartans quickly pushed their lead back to seven at 37-30 with 12:59 left following a layup by Richbow.

Samford fought back to cut the lead back to three points at 41-38 with 10:34 left after a jumper by Jazmine Martin. The Spartans then pushed their lead back to seven at 47-40 with 8:56 remaining in the contest. Samford again cut the lead to three points at 51-48 with 5:42 remaining after a three-pointer by Shelby Campbell.

Samford, however could get no closer than the three-point deficit. UNCG hit several key free throws down the stretch to pull away for the 61-53 win.

Samford will return to action on Monday, when the Bulldogs play at Elon. Morris talked about some ways his team needs to improve heading into Monday night's game.

"I think the most important thing for us is developing a sense of competitive maturity," Morris said. "That is something we've talked about. When you go on the road for your first conference game, you have to be ready to compete. We're an experienced team in a lot of ways, but we have a lot of people in new roles. So we are learning and hopefully our maturity will grow, but tonight that showed up a little in certain situations. Our maturity from a competition standpoint has to be better."

Monday night's game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Elon, N.C. Fans can follow the game via live stats at www.elonphoenix.com.