ATLANTA, Ga. – The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 66-55 decision at Georgia Tech Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
With the loss, Samford falls to 6-5 on the season. Georgia Tech improves to 7-3 with the win.
Samford was led in the game by Krista Stricklin with 16 points. Kassidy Blevins scored 14 points, while Ellen Riggins had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
"The positive for me, as a coach, is that we had some players step up and play well," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "Ellen Riggins really played well, hit some shots and rebounded pretty well. Kassidy Blevins came in off the bench and scored. I thought Cassidy Williams did a good job. She kind of controlled the offense and was able to get us into some stuff. Krista Stricklin played very solid as our leading scorer."
For Georgia Tech, Aaliyah Whiteside scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Katarina Vuckovic and Roddreka Rogers added 10 points each for the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech jumped out to an early 6-2 lead with 5:37 to go in the first quarter. Samford scored the next four points to tie the score at 6-6 with 2:05 to go in the period following a basket by Stricklin. Georgia Tech took an 11-7 lead with 51 seconds to go in the period, but a three-pointer by Amara Mayers with 27 seconds left cut the lead to 11-10. Georgia Tech held a 13-10 advantage after one quarter.
The Yellow Jackets opened the second period with a 12-0 run to take a 25-10 lead with 6:55 left in the quarter after a basket by Whiteside. With Georgia Tech leading, 31-18, Samford closed the second quarter with a 6-0 run to cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to 31-24 at halftime.
Georgia Tech opened the third quarter with a 14-0 run to take a 45-24 lead with 5:20 to go in the period after a layup by Ciani Cryor. Back-to-back three-pointers by Blevins cut the Georgia Tech lead to 45-30 with 4:30 left in the third quarter. With Georgia Tech leading, 53-38 late in the third period, a free throw by Stricklin and a layup by Riggins cut the lead to 53-41 heading into the final period.
After Samford cut the lead to 10 points at 53-43 on a layup by Stricklin, Georgia Tech scored the next five points to make the score 58-43 with 9:06 to go in the game after a jumper by Rogers. Samford then went on a 10-4 run to cut the lead to nine points at 62-53 with 3:22 to go after a pair of free throws by Riggins. Samford, however, could get no closer as Georgia Tech came away with the 66-55 win.
The rebounding battle in the game was even with each team grabbing 29 rebounds. Samford had nine offensive rebounds, compared to four for Georgia Tech. Samford made 37.3 percent of its shots from the floor, while Georgia Tech made 50 percent of its shots.
Samford will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 17 when the Bulldogs play at Alabama State. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Montgomery, Ala.
