Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A late surge by Mercer helped the Bears' women's basketball team come back for a 56-52 win at Samford Saturday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"I thought the key in the second half was, when we had to chance to go up by ten a couple of times and we didn't," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "They made some tough shots and some tough plays and really took care of the basketball. We executed better at times, but down the stretch, I thought, we were really poor in execution, whether it was helping on defense or seeing things offensively."
 
In the game for Samford, senior center Christy Robinson scored a career-high 15 points. Freshman Ellen Riggins and sophomore Krista Stricklin scored eight points each for the Bulldogs.
 
For Mercer, Briana Williams scored 19 points. Precious Bridges scored 14 points, while Kendra Grant scored nine points and Sharnea Boykin had eight points and 11 rebounds.
 
In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early 6-2 lead with 16:13 to go after a three-pointer by Stricklin. Mercer fought back to take a three-point lead at 14-11 with 11:06 to go in the half following a free throw by Williams.
 
After Samford came back to take a 15-14 lead, Mercer went on an 8-0 run to take a 22-15 lead with 6:12 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Williams. Samford, however, answered with an 11-0 run of its own to take a 26-22 lead with 2:07 left in the half after a layup by Robinson. Samford took a six-point lead into halftime at 31-25.
 
Mercer cut the Samford lead to one point early in the second half at 37-36, but Samford went on a 9-2 run to take a 46-38 advantage with 10:24 to go after a pair of free throws by Keke Fletcher. Mercer cut the lead to four points at 46-42, but a three-pointer by Kassidy Blevins gave Samford a 49-42 advantage with 5:39 to go.
 
Mercer then went on a 12-0 run to take a 54-49 lead with just 16 seconds left after a pair of free throws by Boykin. During the run, Samford went over five minutes without scoring. The Bulldogs ended the drought when Stricklin hit a three-pointer with five seconds left to make the score 54-52. A pair of free throws by Bridges with three seconds left made the final score 56-52.
 
As a team, Samford shot 37.3 percent for the game, 48.0 percent in the first half and 26.9 percent in the second half. Mercer made 36.4 percent of its shots, 31.3 percent in the first half and 43.5 percent in the second half.
 
With the loss, Samford drops to 2-6 on the season. Mercer improves to 5-4 with the win.
 
Samford will take the next week off for final exams. The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 14, when they open Southern Conference play at Elon. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Elon, N.C.