Box Score CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Samford women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought Southern Conference road contest, falling by a score of 63-50 at Chattanooga Saturday afternoon at The McKenzie Arena.
 
"They're a talented team and it showed tonight," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "Every time we got a little momentum and we cut into their lead a little, they had somebody else step up. They're very patient and they wear you down from a defensive standpoint. They're deep and that showed up, particularly late in the game."
 
In the loss, Samford was led by freshman Ellen Riggins with 14 points and six rebounds. Freshman Kassidy Blevins scored 13 points, while freshman Hannah Nichols added nine points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs.
 
For Chattanooga, Taylor Hall scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds. Ashlen Dewart had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Mocs.
 
Chattanooga jumped out to an early 8-2 lead with 16:13 to go in the first half after a three-point play by Dewart. Samford fought back to cut the lead to one point at 10-9 with 13:33 to go in the first half after a basket by Christy Robinson. Samford took a brief one-point lead at 16-15 with 10:11 to go in the opening half after a pair of free throws by Riggins.
 
The Lady Mocs, however, answered with a 9-0 run to take a 24-16 lead with 6:30 left in the first half following a basket by Ka'Vonne Towns. After a three-pointer by Samford's Nichols cut the lead to 24-19, Chattanooga scored the next five points to make the score 29-19 with 2:50 left in the first half. Chattanooga took a 33-23 advantage into halftime.
 
After the teams traded baskets early in the second half, Chattanooga pushed its lead out to 16 points at 43-27 with 13:46 to go after a layup by Hall. Samford answered with a 10-3 run to cut the Chattanooga lead to nine points at 46-37 with 8:44 left in the game after a jumper by Nichols.
 
Chattanooga pushed its lead back out to 13 at 53-40 with 6:01 left in the game after a layup by Hall. With Samford trailing, 55-42, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to close to within seven points at 55-48 with 1:33 to go after a layup by Blevins. Chattanooga, however, made several free throws down the stretch to pull away for the 63-50 win.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 5-15 overall and 3-6 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga improves to 17-3 overall and 9-0 in SoCon play. With the win, UTC head coach Jim Foster becomes just the 11^th coach in NCAA history to win 800 games.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 1, when the Bulldogs play at Georgia Southern. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. (CT) start from Statesboro, Ga.