Jan. 7, 2012

Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. - Samford senior guard Paige Anderson scored 23 points to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 53-47 Southern Conference win at Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.

Defensively, Samford held Georgia Southern to just 34.0-percent shooting overall and 7.1 percent from three-point range. Samford shot 38.1 percent overall and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc.

"I thought that was one of our better defensive efforts of the year," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "That's probably the best we have defended Georgia Southern since we've been in the conference. I was very pleased with our team. This was a toughness game. We need to get tougher as a team and we showed a lot of toughness to win tonight."

Anderson made 7-of-13 shots overall and 3-of-6 from three-point range. She was 6-of-6 from the free throw line, with all six coming late in the game to help Samford hold on for the win. Taylor Reece scored eight points for Samford, while Christy Robinson scored six points and Ruth Ketcham added five points and a team-high eight rebounds.

"The play of Paige Anderson and the toughness she showed was huge," Morris said. "Jaz Powers making two big free throws down the stretch was huge. This was just a good, tough win for our team."

For Georgia Southern, Meredyth Frye led the way with 11 points and seven rebounds. Anna Claire Knight added 10 points for the Eagles.

In the first half, Samford grabbed the lead early, scoring the first five points of the contest on a layup by Ketcham and three-pointer by Anderson. Georgia Southern came back to take a 6-5 lead with 14:48 to go in the first half after a basket by Briana Scott. Samford then scored the next six points in a row to take an 11-6 lead with 12:31 to go in the first half following a layup by Robinson.

With Samford leading, 13-10, the Bulldogs scored the next five points to push its lead out to a first-half high of eight points at 18-10 with 7:20 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Reece. Samford took a 25-19 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Reece opened the half with a three-pointer to give Samford a nine-point lead at 28-19 with 18:32 to go in the game. Georgia Southern scored the next eight points to cut the lead to one at 28-27 with 14:18 left in the contest.

Samford pushed its lead back out to six points at 33-27 with 12:59 to go after a three-pointer by Kendall Schwantz. Georgia Southern fought back to cut the Samford lead to two at 33-31 with 10:53 remaining after a jumper by Knight. A pair of free throws by Hannah Dawson, however, increased the Samford lead back out to four at 35-31 with 9:00 to go.

Georgia Southern closed to within one point at 37-36 with 4:46 to go in the game after MiMi DuBose hit one of two free-throw attempts. Anderson, however, answered with a three-pointer to make the score 40-36 with 4:07 left in the contest. A GSU jumper by Ro-Ro Smith cut the lead back two points at 40-38 with 3:45 to go.

In the last 1:48 of the game, Samford hit 13-of-16 free-throw attempts to pull away for the 53-47 win. In the game-ending stretch Anderson hit six free throws, Ketcham hit three free throws, while Reece and Jazmine Powers made two free throws each to help Samford secure the win.

With the win, Samford improves to 7-6 overall and 2-2 in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern drops to 5-9 overall and 1-4 in league play.

Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 9, when the Bulldogs play at College of Charleston. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Charleston, S.C.