Box Score BOONE, N.C. – The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 61-47 Southern Conference contest at Appalachian State Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center.
 
Samford committed 21 turnovers in the loss. The Bulldogs drop to 3-13 overall and 1-4 in SoCon play. ASU improves to 5-9 overall and 2-2 in league games.
 
"I thought their pressure really hurt us," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought we did a good job of breaking their initial press, and we made them pay a few times, but we turned it over just as many times and that got us out of our rhythm. That's something we are going to get better at, and something we are going to improve on."
 
Two freshmen led Samford in the loss. Hannah Nichols led the Bulldogs with 13 points and seven rebounds. Ellen Riggins followed with 12 points and six rebounds.
 
For Appalachian State, Maryah Sydnor score 24 points and grabbed six rebounds. Bria Huffman added 11 points for the Mountaineers.
 
In the first half, Samford jumped out to an early lead at 6-2 with 15:37 to play in the first half after a pair of free throws by Christy Robinson. Appalachian State came back with a 10-2 run to take a 12-8 lead with 11:40 to go in the first half after a basket by Joi Jones. The Mountaineers built their lead to five at 16-11 with 9:05 to go in the first half.
 
Samford fought back to cut the lead to three points at 20-17 with 3:13 to go in the first half after a free throw by Robinson. ASU, however, scored the next five points to take a 25-17 lead with 2:09 to go in the first half following a three-pointer by Maryah Sydnor. The Mountaineers took a 27-19 lead into halftime.
 
Appalachian State pushed its lead out to 10 points early in the second half at 31-21 with 17:45 to go after a layup by Huffman. With ASU leading, 34-24, back-to-back layups by Nichols and Lydia McGee cut the lead to six points at 34-28 with 14:53 to go.
 
The Mountaineers, however, scored the next five points to make the score 39-28 with 11:00 to go after a basket by Jones. Samford could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way, and Appalachian State made several free throws down the stretch to pull away for the 61-47 win.
 
 
 
Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 13, when the Bulldogs play at Western Carolina. The game is set for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.