Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford women's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack and a strong defensive effort to earn a 65-33 Southern Conference win over Furman Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
“What I am really pleased with is our defense,” Samford head coach Mike Morris said. “We are guarding and we are seeing some things. It takes an unselfish player to be committed to defense, and that is where our team is right now.”
 
Samford held Furman to just 33 points in the contest, and the Paladins shot just 14.3 percent overall and 15.4 percent from three-point range. Samford leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense (12.9%) and the Bulldogs rank third nationally in scoring defense (43.0 ppg.).
 
For Samford offensively, all 11 players scored in the win. The Bulldogs were led by senior forward Hannah Dawson and freshman guard Lydia McGee with 11 points each. Dawson also grabbed eight rebounds, and McGee dished out a team-high five assists.
 
Samford redshirt freshman Keke Fletcher scored a career-high 10 points, while junior Christy Robinson followed with eight points and sophomore Taylor Reece added seven points. Junior Kendall Schwantz led the team in rebounding with a career-high 10 boards, and she tied McGee for the team lead in assists with five.
 
For Furman, Kaitlin Murphy led the way with 12 points and five rebounds. Erica Norwood added 11 points for the Paladins.
 
In the first half, both teams started off slowly until, with Samford leading 5-2, the Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run to push its lead to 17-2 with 10:45 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Fletcher.
 
Furman fought back to cut the Samford lead to nine at 22-13 with 4:40 left in the half after a three-pointer by Teshia Griswold. Samford, however, closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 30-13 lead into halftime.
 
In the second half, with Samford leading, 35-16, the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to push its lead to 28 points at 46-18 with 7:05 to go following a three-pointer by Fletcher. Furman could get no closer than 25 points for the remainder of the game.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 34 points at 65-31 with 56 seconds to go after a three-pointer by Rebecca Webster. The Bulldogs came away with a  32-point win, 65-33.
 
As a team, Samford shot 48.9 percent from the floor, including a 55.6-percent effort from beyond the arc. Samford outrebounded Furman, 42-38, and the Bulldogs produced 18 assists on 22 made shots.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in Southern Conference play. Furman drops to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in league play.
 
Samford will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 6, when the Bulldogs play at former OVC rival Tennessee Tech. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start from Cookeville, Tenn.