BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Samford women's basketball team took the Indiana Hoosiers to overtime before eventually falling, 65-56 Friday night in historic Assembly Hall.
 
"I was pleased with how we approached the game and with how we defended," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought, from an offensive standpoint, we moved the ball, we played with some aggression and we took some good shots. I am very proud of our team. We came up here and controlled the game, and then when they made a run, we took it back and had a chance to win the game."
 
With the score tied at 52-52 and the clock winding down, Samford's Kassidy Blevins had a shot to win the game at the buzzer for the Bulldogs. Blevins' shot, however, rimmed out, sending the game to overtime.
 
Indiana scored the first eight points of the overtime period to take a 60-52 lead with 1:09 to go on a three-pointer by Amanda Cahill. The Hoosiers eventually pushed their lead to 10 points at 63-53, and they held on for the 65-56 win.
 
For Samford in the loss, Destiney Elliott scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Krista Stricklin posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor Reece scored 12 points for the Bulldogs. Reece now has 998 points in her Samford career, leaving her just two points away from becoming the seventh player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark.
 
Indiana was led by Cahill with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Tyra Buss scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Alexis Gassion had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Hoosiers.
 
Indiana jumped out to an early 6-2 lead with 7:27 to go in the first quarter. Samford came back with an 11-0 run to take a 13-6 advantage with 3:11 to go in the period following a basket by Stricklin. The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to nine points at 18-9 with 1:20 to go in the first quarter after a three-pointer by Stricklin. Samford led 20-14 after the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, Indiana cut the Samford lead to three points at 22-19 with 7:07 to go in the quarter after a basket by Gassion. Samford then went on an 8-2 run to take a 30-21 lead with 2:12 to go in the period following a three-pointer by Blevins. A three-point play by Indiana's Buss cut Samford's lead to 30-24 heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to 10 points early in the third quarter at 38-28 with 7:21 to go in the period following a layup by Stricklin. After Indiana cut the Samford lead to six points at 38-32, Samford scored the next five points to push its lead to 11 points at 43-32 with 4:00 to go in the quarter after a layup by Ellen Riggins. Indiana, however, closed the third quarter on a 14-2 run to take a 46-45 lead after three periods.
 
In the fourth quarter, Indiana pushed its lead to four points at 49-45 with 9:27 left on a three-pointer by Cahill. With Indiana leading, 50-47, Reece hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 50-50 with 4:51 left in regulation. The score remained tied at 50-50 until Blevins hit a layup with 34 seconds to go to give Samford a 52-50 lead. Indiana's Buss hit two free throws with 11 seconds to go to knot the score at 52-52.
 
As a team, Samford made 41.8 percent of its shots overall and 32.0 percent from three-point range. Indiana shot 28.6 percent overall and just 12.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers, however, were 27-of-31 from the free-throw line, while Samford made 2-of-6 attempts from the charity stripe. Indiana won the rebounding battle, 47-34.
 
Samford will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 13, when the Bulldogs play at Georgia Tech. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) tip from Atlanta.