BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team remained unbeaten at home, earning a 56-43 win over Alabama State Sunday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"I thought this was a very tough win," Samford Head Coach Morris said. "We didn't play well, we didn't shoot the ball well against a very hard-playing Alabama State team. I was very pleased with the way we just hung in there and won it on the defensive end. There are going to be games like this we are going to have to win in our conference this year."
 
Freshman forward Destiney Elliott posted her first career double-double to lead the Bulldogs in the win. Elliott scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. She made 5-of-8 shots from the floor and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line.
 
"Destiney is a very good player." Morris said. "She's done a great job in all aspects of the game. As talented as she is, she also leads our team in charges taken and assists, which is an indication of being unselfish. I thought Keke Fletcher really came in and gave us a good spark late in the game that really gave us some separation late."
 
Behind Elliott, sophomore guard Hannah Nichols scored 14 points. Junior guard Krista Stricklin added eight points and seven rebounds.
 
For Alabama State, Kayla Tucker scored 11 points to lead the way. Jasmine Peeples scored eight points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Britney Wright also had eight points for the Lady Hornets.
 
Samford started the game fast, racing out to an 8-0 lead with 17:41 to go in the first half following a layup by Stricklin. Samford pushed its lead out to 10 points at 16-6 with 12:17 left in the first half after a layup by Ellen Riggins.
 
Alabama State came back with a 7-1 run to cut the Samford lead to four points at 17-13 with 7:59 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Tucker. Samford then went on a 12-4 run to take a 12-point lead at 29-17 with 1:43 left in the half after a pair of free throws by Nichols. Samford took a 31-20 lead into halftime.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to 14 points early in the second half at 36-22 with 16:48 left after a jumper by Nichols. With Samford holding a 40-27 lead, Alabama State went on a 7-1 run to cut the lead to 41-34 with 7:54 to go following a layup by Peeples.
 
The Bulldogs pushed their lead back out to 13 points at 47-34 with 5:26 to go after a pair of free throws by Elliott. Alabama State could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 56-43 win.
 
As a team, Samford shot 36.0 percent overall, compared to 26.9 percent for Alabama State. Samford won the rebounding battle, 40-38.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 6-6 overall. Alabama State falls to 4-6 with the loss.
 
Samford will return to action on Dec. 29 when the Bulldogs play at Kansas. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from Allen Fieldhouse.