NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Samford women's basketball team overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to take a four-point lead, but could not hold it as the Bulldogs dropped a 58-56 decision at Tulane Thursday night on the first day of the Tulane/Double Tree Classic at Devlin Fieldhouse.
 
"I was super proud of this basketball team, particularly in the second half," Samford Head Coach Mike Morris said. "We knew Tulane was very good and very tough, and I thought we matched that. This team is full of character and it showed tonight. This is something we can definitely grow from and build on."
 
Samford trailed by as much as 14 points at 37-23 with 15:21 left in the game. The Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to close to within five points at 37-32 with 12:42 left after a jumper by Lydia McGee. With Samford trailing, 43-36, the Bulldogs went on a 12-4 run to take a one-point lead at 48-47 with 3:33 left after a pair of free throws by Taylor Reece.
 
After Tulane came back to take a 50-48 lead, Samford's Hannah Nichols hit a three-pointer to put Samford back in front at 51-50 with 3:03 remaining. Samford built its lead to four points at 56-52 with 55 seconds left following a three-pointer by Krista Stricklin. With 46 seconds left, Tulane's Danielle Blagg hit a three-pointer and was fouled on the shot. Blagg missed the free throw attempt, however, and Samford held a 56-55 advantage.
 
On Tulane's next possession, Blagg was fouled again, and this time made both attempts, giving Tulane a 57-56 lead with 23 seconds left. Samford had one last shot to win the game, but Destiney Elliott's jumper just missed with two seconds left. Tulane's Jamie Kaplan was fouled on the rebound and made one-of-two free-throw attempts to make the final score 58-56.
 
For Samford in the loss, Nichols and McGee scored 14 points each. Nichols also grabbed nine rebounds, while McGee dished out five assists. Reece scored 12 points, while Elliott added 11 points. Stricklin pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds for Samford.
 
Tulane was led by Blagg with 16 points. Tiffany Dale and Adesuwa Ebomwonyi added 11 points each for the Green Wave.
 
Samford started the first half by taking an early 6-0 lead with 16:21 left in the half after a layup by Reece. Tulane answered by scoring the next eight points to take an 8-6 lead with 13:11 left in the half following a basket by Courtnie Latham. After a three-pointer by Nichols gave Samford a 9-8 lead, Tulane went on a 7-2 run to take a 15-11 lead with 8:21 left after a basket by Leslie Vorpahl.
 
A three-pointer by McGee cut the Tulane lead to one at 15-14 with 7:16 to play in the first half. Tulane then went on an 8-0 run to take a 23-14 lead with 3:02 left in the half after a basket by Tierra Jones. With Tulane leading, 26-16, McGee hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 26-19 heading into halftime.
 
As a team, Samford made 41.3 percent of its shots overall, including 47.1 percent from three-point range. Tulane won the rebounding battle, 41-34, including 17 offensive rebounds, compared to six for Samford.
 
Samford will return to action Friday evening when the Bulldogs wrap up play in the Tulane/Double Tree Classic by taking on UCLA. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.