HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Samford sophomore forward Destiney Elliott scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked a potential game-winning three-pointer as the Bulldog women's basketball team earned a 45-43 win over Nicholls State in the first round of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic Friday night at Reed Green Coliseum.
 
The win was the fifth-straight victory for Samford. The Bulldogs improve to 5-1 on the season, while Nicholls State falls to 1-3. Samford will now take on the host school, Southern Mississippi in the championship game of the tournament Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
 
"Destiney was definitely a bright spot in today's game in terms of getting offensive rebounds and making plays toward the end," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I did a poor job of getting this team ready for this game. We didn't play well and our preparation wasn't right. We were not at our best at all, but credit our players for the toughness and grit to find a way to win the game, and that's what we did."
 
Behind Elliott for Samford, Krista Stricklin scored nine points. Brittany Stevens added eight points for the Bulldogs. Amara Mayers grabbed six rebounds in the win.
 
As a team, Samford made just 29.3 percent of its shots overall and 15.4 percent from three-point range. Nicholls State made 41.3 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Individually for Nicholls State, Sammi Deakin-Sharpe scored 13 points to lead the Colonels in scoring. Cassidy Barrios led the team in rebounding with eight.
 
The teams traded baskets early in the first quarter. With the score tied at 4-4, Samford went on an 8-0 run to take a 12-4 lead with 3:16 left in the opening period following a three-pointer by Stevens. Nicholls State, however went on a 16-0 run that carried into the second quarter to take a 20-12 lead with 4:43 left in the second period after a three-pointer by Deakin-Sharpe.
 
Samford fought back to cut the lead to three points at 24-21 with 1:00 left in the second quarter after a layup by Elliott. A late Nicholls State three-pointer by Karrington Brown gave NSU a 27-21 advantage at halftime.
 
Samford opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 32-27 lead with 4:41 left in the quarter following a jumper by Elliott. Nicholls State fought back to take a one-point lead at 33-32 with 1:30 left in the third period after a pair of free throws by Deakin-Sharpe. Three free throws by Stevens gave Samford a 35-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to five points at 38-33 following a jumper by Stevens with 6:00 left in the game. Nicholls State came back to take a 41-40 lead with 2:34 left after a jumper by Barrios. A layup by Elliott and a jumper by Stricklin gave Samford a 44-41 lead with 1:14 to go in the contest.
 
Nicholls State's Hope Pawlowski hit a jumper to cut the lead to one point at 44-43 with 57 seconds to go. Elliott hit one-of-two free throws to make the score 45-43 with 10 seconds left. Nicholls State had one final shot to tie or win the game, but Elliott blocked LiAnn McCarthy's three-point attempt to preserve the 45-43 win for Samford.
 
Saturday's championship game between Samford and Southern Mississippi is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.