LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 66-44 decision at Kansas Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
 
"Kansas did a good job defensively," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "They took us out of a few things. We turned the ball over, and that had a lot to do with their pressure. They're a solid team because they can score around the goal and they can score on the perimeter."
 
In the loss, Samford was led by sophomore guard Hannah Nichols with 12 points. Freshman forward Destiney Elliott followed with nine points for the Bulldogs.
 
For Kansas, Asia Boyd and Natalie Knight scored 13 points each. Chayla Cheadle and Lauren Aldridge added 10 points apiece for the Jayhawks
 
The teams traded baskets early in the first half. Samford held a 10-7 lead with 16:04 left in the half after a three-pointer by Nichols. With Samford leading 14-13, Kansas went on a 15-2 run to take a 28-16 lead with 6:40 left in the first half after a basket by Boyd.
 
Kansas pushed its lead out to as much as 17 points in the first half at 35-18 with 1:17 to go following a basket by Jada Brown. The Jayhawks took a 35-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford scored the first five points of the second half to close to within 10 points at 35-25 with 18:26 left in the game after a jumper by Taylor Reece. Kansas, however, scored the next 10 points to push its lead out to 20 points at 45-25 with 15:00 left in the game after a three-pointer by Aldridge.
 
Samford fought back to close to within 14 points at 50-36 with 8:33 left in the game following a jumper by Krista Stricklin. Kansas scored the next seven points to take a 21-point lead at 57-36 with 6:40 to go after a layup by Boyd. Samford could get no closer than 17 points the rest of the way as Kansas came away with the 66-44 win.
 
As a team, Samford made 37.5 percent of its shots overall and 36.4 percent from three-point range. Kansas shot 44.6 percent overall and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. Kansas won the rebounding battle, 34-26.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 6-7 on the season. Kansas improves to 9-4 with the win.
 
Samford will play again Tuesday night when the Bulldogs play at Kansas State. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.