Feb. 18, 2012

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Samford women's basketball team held off a late Furman rally to earn a 42-40 Southern Conference win over the Paladins Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

"I challenged our team that we needed to play tougher on the road and that is what we did for about 36 minutes today," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I was very pleased with our players and the way they approached this game."

Samford was led by junior forward Hannah Dawson with 13 points and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Taylor Reece scored 11 points, and senior guard Paige Anderson added six points for the Bulldogs.

For Furman, Raegan Thompson led the Paladins with eight points. Kaitlin Murphy scored seven points, while Brittany Hodges, Teshia Griswold and Janice Roberts added six points each for Furman.

The game was close through most of the first half. With Samford leading, 11-10 late in the half, the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to push their lead out to seven points at 19-12 with 2:22 left in the first half after a jumper by Reece.

A basket by Furman's Griswold with 1:11 to go in the first half cut the Samford lead to five points at 19-14. Neither team was either to score for the remainder of the opening period and Samford took the five-point lead into halftime.

In the second half, Samford jumped out to an 11-point lead at 29-18 with 15:16 to go after a basket by Dawson. Furman battled back to cut the Samford lead to five points at 31-26 with 8:06 to go following a three-pointer by Thompson.

Samford then went on a 9-0 run to push its lead out to a game-high 14 points at 40-26 with 3:57 to go following a layup by Shelby Campbell. Furman, however, scored the next nine points in the game to cut the lead to five points at 40-35 with 1:43 to go after a three-pointer by Thompson.

After a basket by Anderson pushed the lead back to seven points at 42-35, a three-pointer by Murphy cut the lead to 42-38 with 47 seconds to go. A basket by Furman's Sarah Durdaller with nine seconds to go made the score 42-40. Furman's Hodges, however, missed a last-second shot to tie the game, and the Bulldogs held on for the two-point win.

Samford improves to 16-9 overall and 11-5 in Southern Conference play with the win. Furman falls to 12-13 overall and 8-8 in league play. Samford, currently in fourth place in the SoCon standings, increases its lead over fifth-place Furman to three games.

The Samford defense held Furman to just 31.5-percent shooting overall and 26.7 percent from three-point range. Furman outrebounded Samford, 39-31.

Samford will return to action on Monday, Feb. 20, when the Bulldogs play at Western Carolina. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.