Box Score MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Samford women's basketball team opened its 2013-14 regular season with a hard-fought 62-60 win at Memphis Sunday afternoon at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
 
"I am very pleased for our players," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "They've worked hard and I've been hard on them, so it's good to see them have some success. We still have a lot of work to do, but this was a good start."
 
Samford was led in scoring in the win by freshman Ellen Riggins with 16 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Krista Stricklin had 15 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Hannah Nichols scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Freshman Brittany Stevens grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists in the win for the Bulldogs.
 
"Krista Stricklin was big for us down the stretch," Morris said. "Her maturity, from having played last year, helped us a lot. The play of Ellen Riggins and Hannah Nichols as freshmen was big as well. And Brittany Stevens, as our point guard, really controlled the game."
 
For Memphis, Ariel Hearn led the way with 17 points. Mooriah Rowser scored 13 points, while Brei Wilder-Cochran added 10 points. Asianna Fuqua-Bey had eight points and nine rebounds for the Tigers.
 
Memphis started the game off hot, scoring the first five points of the contest. Samford, however, went on an 8-0 run to take an 8-5 lead with 16:44 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Stricklin. Memphis answered with a 12-3 run of its own to take a 17-11 lead with 11:58 to go in the opening half following a free throw by Wilder-Cochran.
 
After Samford closed to within two points at 17-15, Memphis went on a 7-0 run to make the score 24-15 with 8:51 left in the half after a layup by Fuqua-Bey. Samford slowly fought its way back, taking a 29-28 lead with 3:52 left in the half after a jumper by Amara Mayers.
 
Memphis scored the next four points to take a 32-29 lead. Samford, however, fought back to cut the lead to one at 34-33 with 1:47 left in the half after a layup by Stevens. Memphis closed the half by scoring the last four points of the period to take a 38-33 lead.
 
Samford scored the first 11 points of the second half, taking a six-point lead at 44-38 with 16:32 to go after a layup by Lydia McGee. With Samford leading, 49-45, a three-pointer and a jumper by Memphis gave the Tigers a 50-49 lead with 9:30 to go in the game.
 
The Bulldogs came back to tie the game at 52-52 with 6:41 left after a free throw by Christy Robinson. Samford took the lead at 57-54 with 4:50 left after a three-pointer by Nichols. Memphis came back to take a 58-57 lead with 3:27 to go following a jumper by Rowser.
 
Stricklin then hit a layup to give Samford a 59-58 lead with 2:54 left. Memphis took the lead again at 60-59 on a jumper by Rowser with 1:17 to go. The Bulldogs took the lead for good when Riggins hit a jumper with 57 seconds left to make the score 61-60.
 
Memphis had two possessions to try to take the lead in the last minute, but the Samford defense came up with stops on both possessions. Nichols hit a free throw with less than a second to go to make the final score 62-60.
 
As a team, Samford out-rebounded the bigger Tigers, 41-34. Samford shot 43.6 percent as a team, while Memphis hit 41.9 percent of its shots. Samford committed 21 turnovers, compared to 14 for Memphis.
 
Samford improves to 1-0 on the young season. Memphis is now 1-1.
 
Samford will play its home opener Thursday night, playing host to Talladega College. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center. The contest can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu. Live stats will also be available at www.samfordsports.com.