GREENSBORO, N.C.— The Samford women's basketball team opened Southern Conference play with a 62-56 win at UNCG Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gymnasium.
 
"I was definitely pleased with our approach to the game," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I told our team after the game, I thought our practices have been a little more physical and a little more taxing and they responded to that today. It wasn't anything tricky, we just practiced better and it showed up in the game today."
 
In the win, Samford was led by junior guard Krista Stricklin with 13 points and seven rebounds. Junior center Taylor Reece had 12 points, while sophomore guard Lydia McGee followed with 10 points. Sophomore guard Hannah Nichols scored nine points, while sophomore guard Brittany Stevens added eight points, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
 
"They were excited to play, but more than that, they were ready to compete," Morris said of his players. "Every one of our players was engaged in the moment and knew what we were doing and really competed."
 
Bailey Williams led UNCG with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lucy Mason also scored 14 points for the Spartans.
 
In the first half, UNCG jumped out to an early four-point lead at 7-3 with 15:35 left in the first half following a basket by Mariah Wilson. UNCG built its lead to as much as five points at 12-7. Samford, however, went on a 13-1 run to take a 20-13 lead with 6:42 left in the half after a layup by Nichols.
 
UNCG fought back to cut the lead to one point at 20-19 with 4:11 to play after a pair of free throws by Mason. Samford scored eight of the final 10 points of the first half to take a 28-21 advantage into the locker room as halftime.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to 13 points early in the second half at 36-23 with 16:47 to go after a layup by Stricklin. With Samford leading, 44-32, UNCG went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to just five points at 46-41 with 6:39 to go after a layup by Williams. The Bulldogs pushed the lead back out to nine points at 50-41 with 5:21 to go after a pair of free throws by Stevens.
 
With Samford leading, 54-45, the Spartans scored six-straight points to close to within three points at 54-51 with 1:44 left in the game after two free throws by Jessica Collins. Down the stretch, however, Samford made eight-straight free throws, four by McGee, two by Stevens and two more by Amara Mayers, to put the game away and preserve the 62-56 win.
 
As a team, Samford made 40.4 percent of its shots overall and 26.7 percent from three-point range. UNCG was held to just 30.0 percent shooting overall and 18.8 percent from beyond the arc. UNCG out-rebounded Samford, 43-37.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 8-8 overall and 1-0 in Southern Conference play. The win marked Samford's first win in a true road game this season. UNCG falls to 5-11 overall and 0-1 in SoCon play with the loss.
 
Samford will return to action on Monday, Jan. 12, when the Bulldogs play at Western Carolina. The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. (CT) start from Cullowhee, N.C.