Box Score POST-GAME INTERVIEW
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Samford freshman guard Krista Stricklin hit a jumper as time expired to give the Bulldog women's basketball team a 66-64 Southern Conference win over Appalachian State Monday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Appalachian State's Maryah Sydnor hit a shot with just seven seconds left to tie the score at 64-64. The Bulldogs then got the ball down court quickly and Stricklin's shot went through the net as the final horn sounded.
 
“It was awesome, with the adrenaline and just how hard our team had played throughout the game,” Stricklin said. “Props to Jazmine Martin for seeing me and getting me the ball. Getting that shot off and it going in was a great feeling.”
 
Stricklin led Samford in the win with a career-high 18 points, and she grabbed nine rebounds. Senior Jazmine Martin scored 15 points, while fellow senior Hannah Dawson had 13 points, playing just 13 minutes due to foul trouble. Dawson became Samford's all-time leader in career starts, starting the 113^th game of her Samford career.
 
“Obviously Krista did a great job and Jazmine did a great job,” Samford head coach Mike Morris said. “Keke Fletcher came in when Hannah got in foul trouble, and she guarded and defended and played 28 minutes. I think this win is a credit to how we guarded and defended.”
 
As a team, Samford held Appalachian State to just 39.0 percent shooting overall and 15.4 percent from three-point range. Samford made 45.9 percent of its shots overall and 43.8 percent from three-point range. Samford out-rebounded Appalachian State, 33-31.
 
For Appalachian State, Sydnor led the way with 18 points. Courtney Freeman scored 13 points, while Katie Mallow added 11 points for the Mountaineers.
 
Samford got off to a hot start in the first half, scoring the first nine points of the contest to take a 9-0 lead with 15:11 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Martin. Appalachian State scored the next five points to cut the Samford lead to four at 9-5 with 14:26 left in the first half after a layup by Freeman.
 
With Samford leading, 19-13, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to push its lead to 14 points at 27-13 with 4:07 to go after a pair of free throws by Kendall Schwantz. Samford eventually pushed its lead out to 17 points at 33-16 with 1:14 left in the opening half following a pair of free throws by Martin. ASU scored the last four points of the half and Samford held a 33-20 lead heading into halftime.
 
After Samford pushed its lead to 15 points at 35-20 with an early bucket by Dawson, Appalachian State went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to nine points at 37-28 with 18:21 to go after a three-pointer by Mallow.
 
Samford pushed its lead back out to 13 points at 45-32 with 13:33 to go after a layup by Martin. With Samford leading, 50-38, ASU went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to three points at 52-49 with 6:29 to go after a layup by Anna Freeman.
 
The Bulldogs pushed their lead back out to nine points at 58-49 with 5:34 to go after a pair of free throws by Keke Fletcher. Appalachian State then went on a 13-3 run to take its only lead of the game at 62-61 with 1:48 to go after a layup by Courtney Freeman.
 
Two free throws by Taylor Reece and one by Stricklin gave Samford a 64-62 lead with 1:01 to go in the game. Neither team could score until Sydnor's jumper with seven seconds left tied the game, setting the stage for Stricklin's game-winning shot to give the Bulldogs the 66-64 win.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 10-9 overall and 7-3 in Southern Conference play. Appalachian State drops to 12-5 overall and 6-3 in league play.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 2, when the Bulldogs travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to take on the Wofford Terriers. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start.