JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team held Jacksonville State to 39 points and 27.5-percent shooting on its way to a 50-39 win over the Gamecocks Tuesday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
"Any time you can go on the road and win in Division I, it's a good thing," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We were able to separate and build a 17-point lead in the second half and we held on to win by 11. I was pleased with our overall defensive effort."
 
Samford was led in the game by Amara Mayers with a career-high 16 points and a career-high seven rebounds. Taylor Reece scored 11 points, and Destiney Elliott grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
 
"I thought Amara played the best game of her college career," Morris said. "Destiney led us in rebounding and Taylor made some big shots. Lydia McGee really played well for us too."
 
For Jacksonville State, Briana Benson scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds. Courtney Strain had eight points and five rebounds, while Kelly Naughton added eight points for the Gamecocks.
 
In the first quarter, after JSU took an early 2-0 lead, Samford answered with an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 advantage with 5:22 left in the period following a basket by Mayers. Jacksonville State scored the next six points to knot the score at 8-8 with 1:12 left in the quarter after a basket by Naughton. Samford held a 10-9 lead after the first quarter.
 
Jacksonville State took a 15-12 lead early in the second quarter following a three-pointer by Chloe Long with 7:51 left in the period. Samford came back with a 7-0 run to take a 19-15 lead with 4:42 left after a layup by Mayers. After JSU cut the lead to 19-18, Samford scored the final four points of the half to take a 23-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford opened the third period on a 7-0 run to push its lead to 12 points at 30-18 with 5:10 to go in the third period following a layup by Mayers. After JSU cut the lead to 10 at 30-20, Samford scored eight of the final 11 points of the quarter to take a 38-23 lead into the final period.
 
The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 17 points at 40-23 with 8:56 left following a layup by Ellen Riggins. With Samford leading, 42-27, JSU went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to seven points at 44-37. Samford scored the next four points to push the lead back out to 11 points at 48-37 with 12 seconds left following two free throws by Elliott. Samford held on for the 11-point win, 50-39.
 
As a team, Samford outrebounded Jacksonville State, 40-30. The Bulldogs made 37.3 percent of their shots from the floor.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 4-1. Jacksonville State drops to 1-4 with the loss.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, Nov. 27, when the Bulldogs take part in the Southern Mississippi Thanksgiving Tournament. Samford will take on Nicholls State in Friday's first round, and then either Southern Miss or Mississippi Valley State in Saturday's final round.