BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 56-49 decision to 20th-ranked Chattanooga Saturday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
"I thought our team prepared right, we had good practices and our approach was good," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "That was evident in our play, our effort was much better. Hopefully we've learned something from these last couple of games and we can take that into practice for these next couple of games."
In the loss for Samford, Destiney Elliott and Hannah Nichols scored 15 points each. Taylor Reece added 10 points and five rebounds, and Brittany Stevens dished out six assists for the Bulldogs.
Chattanooga was led by Jasmine Joyner with 13 points and seven rebounds. Keiana Gilbert scored 12 points, while Chelsey Shumpert scored 11 points and Ka'Vonne Towns added 10 points for the Mocs.
In the first half, Chattanooga jumped out to an early 4-2 lead with 16:23 left in the half following a layup by Gilbert. Samford scored the next five points to take a 7-4 lead with 14:50 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Nichols. Chattanooga fought back to tie the game at 9-9 with 9:20 to go in the first half after a layup by Destiny Bramblett.
Samford opened up a five-point lead at 14-9 with 6:53 left in the first half after a jumper by Reece. Chattanooga came back to cut the lead to one point at 14-13 with 4:40 left in the opening period following a jumper by Joyner. Samford took an 18-16 advantage into halftime.
Samford pushed its lead out to seven points early in the second half at 26-19 with 15:53 to go in the second half after a three-pointer by Reece. With Samford leading, 28-21, Chattanooga scored the next six points to close to within one point at 28-27 with 11:31 left in the game after a jumper by Shumpert.
After Samford pushed its lead back out to three at 28-25, Chattanooga went on a 12-4 run to take a 37-32 advantage with 8:13 left in the game after a pair of free throws by Joyner. Samford fought back to cut the lead to one at 37-36 with 6:54 left, but Chattanooga went on a 9-2 run to take an eight-point lead at 46-38 with 4:40 left after a three-pointer by Moses Johnson. Samford again closed to within one point at 46-45 and 48-47, but Chattanooga closed the game with a 10-4 run to take the 56-49 win.
As a team, Samford shot 38.3 percent overall and 25.0 percent from three-point range. Chattanooga made 44.7 percent of its shots overall and 18.2 percent from beyond the arc. Samford committed 14 turnovers, compared to 15 for Chattanooga, and the Mocs won the rebounding battle, 32-26.
Samford will return to action on Monday, Feb. 23, when the Bulldogs play host to East Tennessee State at 6 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
