Box Score CLARA YOUNG INTERVIEW

BOX SCORE (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford freshman guard Clara Young hit a jumper with 14 seconds left, and the Bulldog women's basketball team held off Furman on its final possession for a 59-58 Southern Conference win Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"I was really pleased with our team in terms of the way we approached the game," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "For the most part we kind of controlled the game. They're a good team and they came back on us and took the lead, but I was proud of the way we responded to come back and win."
 
Four Samford players scored in double figures in the win, led by freshman Hannah Nichols with 12 points. Senior Christy Robinson scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a career-high seven assists. Freshmen Young and Kassidy Blevins both set career highs with 10 points each.
 
For Furman, Brittany Hodges and Holli Wilkins scored 18 points each. Sarah Durdaller had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Paladins.
 
Samford trailed by eight points, 53-45, with 4:30 to go in the game. The Bulldogs, however, went on a 10-1 run to take a 55-54 lead with 2:42 to go after a free throw by Nichols. After Furman's Whitney Bunn tied the game with a free throw with 2:24 to go, Young hit a layup to give Samford a 57-55 lead.
 
Furman's Durdaller then hit a three-pointer to give the Paladins a 58-57 lead with 28 seconds to go. Young then gave Samford its final lead with her jumper with 14 seconds to go at 59-58. Furman had one final shot to win the game, but Wilkins missed a jumper and Samford came away with the win.
 
"This was a great feeling," Young said. "We got down, but we came back, and we knew we just had to stay aggressive and stay composed, and we ended up winning."
 
In the first half, Samford got off to a hot start, racing out to a 13-2 lead with 15:00 to go in the half after a layup by Ellen Riggins. The Bulldogs built their lead out to 12 points at 18-6 with 13:12 to go in the first half following a three-pointer by Young. Furman fought back to cut the Samford lead to just five points at 20-15 with 9:11 to go in the first half after two free throws by Wilkins.
 
Samford scored the next eight points to take a game-high 13-point lead at 28-15 with 5:45 to go in the first half after two free throws by Lydia McGee. With Samford leading, 30-17, Furman closed the half on a 6-2 run to make the score 32-23 at halftime.
 
Furman closed to within two points early in the second half at 32-30 with 17:04 to go after two free throws by Hodges. With Samford leading, 34-32, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run to push their lead back out to nine points at 43-34 with 11:05 to play after a layup by Nichols.
 
Furman answered with a 13-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 47-43 with 7:42 to go after a layup by Hodges. After Samford's Brittany Stevens made a free throw to cut the lead to three at 47-44, Furman scored six of the next seven points to take an eight-point lead at 53-45, setting the stage for Samford's come-from-behind win.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 4-14 overall and 2-5 in Southern Conference play. Furman falls to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in league play. The win ends a seven-game losing streak for Samford.
 
As a team, Samford made 46.7 percent of its shots overall and 50.0 percent from three-point range. Furman shot 37.0 percent overall and just 12.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Paladins out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 39-26.
 
Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 20, when the Bulldogs play host to Wofford. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.