Jan. 13, 2012

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--Samford freshman forward Taylor Reece scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in leading the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 71-66 overtime win over Furman in Southern Conference action Friday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.

With the win, Samford improves to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in Southern Conference play. Furman drops to 9-7 overall and 5-2 in league games.

"We beat a good team tonight," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I was very pleased with our team. I thought defensively we had the right attitude and the right approach. This was another good toughness win for our team."

Reece made 8-of-13 shots from the floor in the win. Senior guard Paige Anderson scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior guard Jazmine Martin added 11 points in the win. Senior guard Jazmine Powers scored nine points and dished out five assists.

For Furman, Brittany Hodges led the way with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Kaitlin Murphy scored 13 points, while Raegan Thompson scored 12 points and Lashana Booker added 10 points for the Paladins.

In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with 15:31 to go after a free throw by Powers. Furman fought back to take a 14-12 lead with 7:55 to go in the opening period after a three-pointer by Murphy.

In the final 7:30 of the first half there were four ties and eight lead changes with neither team able to lead by more than two points. With Furman leading, 28-26, Martin hit a three-pointer with 51 seconds left to give Samford a 29-28 lead, which the Bulldogs took into halftime.

Early in the second half, Furman came back to take a 35-33 lead with 16:43 left after a layup by Thompson. With Furman leading, 38-35, Samford fought back to take a three-point lead at 43-40 with 12:31 left after a three-pointer by Reece. Furman scored four of the next five points to tie the score at 44-44 with 10:24 to go.

With Samford trailing, 51-50, the Bulldogs went on an 8-1 run to take a six-point lead, matching the largest lead for either team, at 58-52 with 3:55 remaining after a layup by Martin. With Samford leading, 60-54, Furman scored the final six points of regulation to tie the score at 60-60 on a pair of free throws by Hodges with 23 seconds to go.

In the overtime, Samford jumped out to a six-point lead at 67-61 with 1:57 left after a pair of free throws by Reece. Furman's Sarah Durdaller then hit a three-pointer to pull the Paladins to within three points at 67-64 with 1:43 left in the game. A layup by Reece and a free throw by Ruth Ketcham stretched Samford's lead back out to six at 70-64 with 1:01 to go.

Furman's Murphy then hit a layup to cut the Samford lead to 70-66 with four seconds to go, but a late free throw by Martin made the final score 71-66.

For the game, the score was tied 12 times and there were 14 lead changes. Samford outrebounded Furman, 45-43. The Bulldogs made 45.0 percent of their shots overall, including 56.3 percent from three-point range. Furman made 34.2 percent of its shots overall and 30.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 15, when the Bulldogs play host to the Wofford Terriers. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.