BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 73-69 win over in-state rival Troy Tuesday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"I'm extremely proud of our team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "When we got behind in the second half, we found a spark. We didn't shoot the ball well early, they were changing defenses and it was our third game in five days, but we had a lot of energy towards the end of the game. I'm proud of how our team competed. It wasn't always pretty, but I'm proud of how we won it."
 
Samford was led in the game by Kassidy Blevins with 19 points. Brittany Stevens and Lydia McGee scored 12 points each. Destiney Elliott had eight points and nine rebounds, and Krista Stricklin added eight points.
 
"Kassidy Blevins came in and was a play-maker for us," Morris said. "Brittany controlled the game. They want to play fast and score 100 points, and she controlled the game. Krista Stricklin hit some big shots down the stretch."
 
For Troy, Ashley Beverly Kelley scored 33 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Caitlyn Ramirez scored 12 points, while Ta'Kierra Gibbs added 10 points for the Trojans.
 
Troy started the game off hot, jumping out to a 6-0 lead following a jumper by Gibbs with 7:36 left in the first period. Samford answered with a 7-0 run to take a 7-6 lead with 6:21 left in the first quarter after a layup by Elliott.
 
Troy came back to take a five-point lead at 14-9 with 4:40 left in the half after a three-pointer by Gibbs. Samford ended the quarter on a 10-0 run and the Bulldogs ended the opening period with a 19-14 advantage.
 
Samford pushed its lead to seven at 21-14 early in the second period. Troy, however, came back with a 13-3 run to take a 27-24 lead over Samford late in the second quarter. Troy took a 29-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
 
Troy pushed its lead out to 10 points at 36-26 with 6:24 left in the third quarter after a three-pointer by Beverly Kelley. Samford scored the next nine points to cut the lead to one at 36-35 with 4:15 left in the period after a jumper by Stevens.
 
Troy then pushed its lead back out to seven points at 42-35 with 2:52 left in the period after a three-pointer by Amanda Mendoza. Samford then went on an 8-1 run to tie the score at 43-43 with 42 seconds left in the third period after a three-pointer by Blevins. Troy scored a late bucket to end the third quarter with a 45-43 lead.
 
With Troy leading, 49-46 early in the fourth quarter, Samford scored five-straight points to take a 51-49 lead with 6:05 to go after a free throw by Taylor Reece. After Troy briefly tied the score at 51-51, Samford took the lead for good at 54-51 on a three-pointer by Blevins with 5:27 to go in the game.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to five points at 56-51 with 5:15 to go after a layup by Stevens. Troy came back to cut the lead to one point at 60-59 following a pair of free throws by Dajia Williams. Samford then pushed its lead back out to five at 65-60 with 1:24 to go after a three-pointer by Stricklin.
 
The Bulldogs increased their lead to seven points at 69-62 with 20 seconds to go after two free throws by Stevens. A jumper and then a three-point play by Troy's Beverly Kelley cut the Samford lead to just two points at 69-67 with 14 seconds to go. Stevens and Blevins knocked down a couple of free throws each as Samford hung on for the 73-69 win.
 
As a team, Samford made 24-of-28 free-throw attempts. Samford made 35.7 percent of its shots from the floor, and 28.1 percent from three-point range. Troy won the rebounding battle, 34-33.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 2-1. Troy falls to 1-1 with the loss.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 21, when the Bulldogs host Shorter. Tip-off for the game is set for 2 p.m. from the Pete Hanna Center.