March 5, 2012

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The fourth-seeded Samford women's basketball team won its second-straight Southern Conference Tournament title with a 54-43 win over second-seeded Appalachian State in the tournament championship game Monday evening at the U.S. Cellular Center.

"I'm definitely pleased with our basketball team," Samford head coach Mike Morris. "I don't have a ton of experience with this in terms of winning championships, but I think repeating as conference champion is a little harder than winning the first one."

Morris credited the team's four seniors, Paige Anderson, Jazmine Powers, Ruth Ketcham and J'Quita Babineaux for leading the team to the tournament title.

"I think our seniors set the tone before we got on the bus to come to Asheville," Morris said. "Our whole mindset was different when we got here for practice prior to the tournament, and I think it showed up in the three games we played and that is a testament to their character, out whole team's character, and their ability to right the ship. Because we were not playing our best basketball, but to put three games together like this and to do it on the biggest stage and at the most important time of the season speaks volumes of our team and our players."

Samford improves to 20-12 with the win and the Bulldogs earn the program's second-straight NCAA Tournament bid. The Bulldogs will find out who and where they play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday, March 12, when the tournament pairings are announced. The win also gives Samford 20 wins for the fifth-straight season and for the sixth time in the last seven years.

Samford was led in the game by Powers with 14 points and seven rebounds. Jazmine Martin scored 11 points, while Hannah Dawson scored seven points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the win.

Samford sophomore guard Shelby Campbell scored six points and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Campbell scored 13 points in the quarterfinals against Elon and a career-high 24 points in the semifinal win over Davidson. Martin joined Campbell on the first-team All-Tournament team. Taylor Reece was named second-team All-Tournament.

For Appalachian State, Anna Freeman had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Courtney Freeman also scored 10 points for the Mountaineers. Chakeitha Weldon added eight points and seven rebounds.

After Samford fell behind early, 4-2, the Bulldogs went on a 13-2 run to take a 16-6 lead with 9:51 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Martin. With Samford leading, 18-8, Appalachian State scored the next five points to cut the lead to five points at 18-13 with 2:49 to go in the first half.

Samford answered by scoring five-straight points of its own to make the score 23-13 with 1:43 left in the first half after a layup by Campbell. Samford took a 23-16 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Appalachian State cut the Samford lead to three points at 25-22 with 14:57 to go in the game after a layup by Weldon. The Mountaineers took the lead at 33-32 with 8:38 to go in the game after a layup by Anna Freeman.

Samford answered with a 15-5 run to take a 47-38 lead with 3:15 to go in the game after a pair of free throws by Martin. Appalachian State cut the Samford lead to six points and 49-43, but Samford scored the last five points of the game to come away with the 54-43 win.

Information on a selection show viewing party will be announced later this week. Check www.samfordsports.com for details.