Jan. 18, 2012

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Samford women's basketball team had four players score in double figures, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs dropped a 74-68 Southern Conference contest at Chattanooga Wednesday evening at McKenzie Arena.

"I thought we fought hard, particularly in the second half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We didn't deliver the first punch, but Chattanooga did and we got down by 10 or so in the first half. We responded well and we did a good job of getting ourselves back in the game. Hopefully the lesson we learned is that we have to deliver the first punch."

Samford dropped to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in the Southern Conference with the loss. Chattanooga improved to 13-4 overall and 8-0 in SoCon play.

Samford was led in the game by senior guard Paige Anderson with 16 points. Senior guard Jazmine Powers scored career-high 14 points and pulled down six rebounds. Senior guard Ruth Ketcham scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, while freshman forward Taylor Reece added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

Chattanooga was led by Whitney Hood with 21 points and five rebounds. Kayla Christopher and Kylie Lambert added 12 points each for the Lady Mocs.

In the first half, Chattanooga jumped out to an early 9-2 lead with 16:06 to go in the first half after a layup by Hood. Samford scored the next seven points to tie the score at 9-9 with 14:30 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Ketcham.

Chattanooga scored the next five points to take a 14-9 lead with 13:32 left in the opening period. Samford fought back to tie the score again at 18-18 with 11:22 left after a jumper by Shelby Campbell.

Chattanooga then went on a 9-3 run to take a 27-21 lead with 7:54 left in the half after a three-pointer by Christopher. The Lady Mocs pushed their lead out to as much as 10 points in the first half at 37-27, but a late three-pointer by Anderson cut the UTC lead to 37-30 heading into halftime.

Early in the second half, Samford cut the Chattanooga lead to two points at 41-39 with 16:06 to go in the game after a three-pointer by Anderson. Chattanooga scored the next five points to push the lead back out to seven at 46-39 with 15:08 left in the contest.

Samford once again cut the UTC lead to two at 53-51 with 9:41 left in the game after a three-pointer by Anderson. Chattanooga answered by scoring the next five points to make the score 58-51 with 8:36 to go in the game.

The Bulldogs scored eight of the next 11 points to cut the Lady Mocs' lead to two at 61-59 with 4:57 to go after a basket by Powers. Chattanooga then scored the next five points to push its lead back out to seven at 66-59 with 2:44 to go in the game.

With Samford trailing, 70-61, the Bulldogs went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to four points at 72-68 with seven seconds left after another three-pointer by Anderson. Two late free throws by Alex Black, however, gave the Lady Mocs a 74-68 victory.

As a team, Samford shot 42.9 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from three-point range. Chattanooga made 50.0 percent of its shots overall and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 21, when the Bulldogs play at Davidson. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from Davidson, N.C.