Feb. 21, 2011

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Samford women's basketball team overcame a 17-point deficit to earn a 59-52 Southern Conference win at UNC Greensboro in the final regular-season game of the 2010-11 season for the Bulldogs.

Samford is now 22-7 overall and 15-5 in Southern Conference play after claiming its first-ever win at UNC Greensboro. The Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SoCon Tournament and will open play in the tournament on Friday, Mar. 4 at 8 a.m. (CST) against a yet to be determined opponent.

UNC Greensboro is now 13-14 overall and 10-9 in league play. The Spartans will wrap up their regular season at Appalachian State on Saturday.

Samford was playing without starting forward Hannah Dawson for the second-straight game after Dawson suffered an injury in the team's Feb. 14 win over Davidson.

"With the way the game started, when we got down and we weren't into the game, to fight and claw our way back and come away with a win on their floor speaks volumes for our team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "Today's game was a defensive struggle, but we found a way to win the game. Our team should gain some confidence from this road trip, especially doing this without one of our starters."

Samford was led in scoring by senior guard Emily London with 17 points. Senior forward Savannah Hill scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists. Junior guard Ruth Ketcham added 13 points for the Bulldogs.

UNC Greensboro was led by Janae' Stevenson with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Monique Floyd had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Spartans.

After Samford started the scoring with an early three-pointer by Paige Anderson, UNC Greensboro went on a 22-2 run to take a 22-5 lead with 10:45 left in the first half after a jumper by Jazz Weaver.

With Samford trailing, 26-12, the Bulldogs closed the first half with a 12-0 run to cut the UNC Greensboro lead to two points at 26-24 at halftime.

UNC Greensboro scored the first five points of the second half to push its lead back out to seven points at 31-24 with 19:21 to go in the game after a layup by Dayshaun Richbow. Samford answered with a 10-2 run to take a 34-33 lead with 14:33 left in the game after a layup by Hill.

Samford pushed its lead out to five points at 44-39 with 8:52 to go following a layup by Hill. UNCG, however, answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead back at 45-44 with 6:12 left in the contest after a layup by Stevenson.

The Bulldogs then went on an 8-0 run to take a 52-45 lead with 2:33 left following a layup by Ketcham. The Spartans fought back to cut the lead to four points at 53-49, but Samford pulled away down the stretch for the 59-52 win.

The pairings for the Southern Conference Tournament, scheduled for Mar. 3-7 in Chattanooga, Tenn., will be announced at the conclusion of the regular-season this weekend.