Women's Hoops Earns SoCon Road Win At Wofford - Samford University Athletics

Saturday, February 15

Spartanburg, S.C.

1 p.m.

Samford University

9-16, 7-7

Wofford College

5-18, 3-10

Team	1	2	F
Samford	33	28	61
Wofford	22	33	55

Ellen Riggins vs. Western Carolina, 2013-14

Ellen Riggins scored 14 points, all in the second half, in Saturday's 61-55 win at Wofford.

2.15.14 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Joey Mullins

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Samford women's basketball team earned a hard-fought Southern Conference road win, defeating Wofford by a score of 61-55 Saturday afternoon at Benjamin Johnson Arena.

With the win, Samford has now won six of its last eight games. The Bulldogs improve to 9-16 overall and 7-7 in SoCon play. Wofford drops to 5-18 overall and 3-10 in league games.

"I thought our team did a good job of setting the tone early in the first half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "You have to give a lot of credit to Wofford, with their effort and their changing defenses on us. I think this is a game we would have probably lost a month ago. This was a team effort. There are a lot of lessons we can learn from this game, and fortunately, we don't have to have a loss to learn those lessons."

In the win, Samford was led by Ellen Riggins and Christy Robinson with 14 points each. Riggins scored all 14 of her points in the second half, including making 10-of-11 free-throw attempts. Hannah Nichols scored 12 points, and Keke Fletcher followed with 11 points.

"I was pleased with the way Christy Robinson and Keke Fletcher played in the first half," Morris said. "And I was pleased with how Ellen Riggins and Hannah Nichols stepped up in the second half."

For Wofford, Kentra Washington led the way with 14 points. Jordan Frazier scored 12 points, while Chanel Stokes contributed 11 points for the Terriers.

In the first half, Wofford jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with 16:22 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Stokes. Samford answered with an 11-0 run of its own to take an 11-6 lead with 9:59 left in the opening half after a layup by Nichols. Wofford fought back to cut the lead to one point at 11-10 with 8:02 to go in the half after a basket by Michelle Merritt.

Samford pushed its lead out to six points at 18-12 with 5:48 to go after a layup by Robinson. Wofford closed to within three points at 20-17, but Samford went on a 10-3 run to take a 30-20 lead with 35 seconds to go in the half after a basket by Robinson. With Samford leading, 30-22, Nichols hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to make the score 33-22 at halftime.

In the second half, after Samford pushed its lead to 13 at 35-22, Wofford went on a 12-0 run to cut the Samford lead to one point at 35-34 with 14:28 to go after a layup by Washington. With Samford holding a 39-36 advantage, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to push their lead to 10 points at 46-36 with 11:27 to go after a layup by Lydia McGee.

Wofford cut the lead to five points at 48-43, but Samford pushed the lead back out to 11 points at 54-43 with 7:17 to play following a layup by Riggins. The Terriers made a late run to cut the Samford lead to just three points at 58-55 with 24 seconds to go after a three-pointer by Stokes. Late free throws by Brittany Stevens and Riggins helped Samford pull away for the 61-55 win.

As a team, Samford made 44.7 percent of its shots overall, including 38.5 percent of its three-pointers. Wofford shot 35.3 percent overall and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Samford will return to action on Monday, when the Bulldogs play at Furman. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Greenville, S.C.