GREENVILLE, S.C.—In a battle of first-place teams in the Southern Conference race, the Samford women's basketball team pulled away down the stretch for a 58-45 win over Furman Thursday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
 
The win marks the first time Samford has won at Furman since 2012. With the win, Samford improves to 13-8 overall and 5-1 in the SoCon standings. The Bulldogs are now tied with Mercer for first place in the league. Furman falls to 11-10 overall and 4-2 in league play.
 
"I was very pleased with the effort of our team today," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We haven't really played well here over the last three or four years. The things I was most pleased with were how we started the game, and then, when they came back and took the lead, Amara (Mayers) made a big three at the end of the half to give us the lead back, and then we controlled the second half."
 
Samford led, 28-26 at halftime, but the Bulldogs outscore the Paladins 31-19 in the second half.
 
"We only had three turnovers in the second half, and they only had one offensive rebound in the second half," Morris said. "I think we really wore them down, mentally and physically. I'm really proud that, not matter who or where we play, we are approaching things in a consistent way of defending first and getting the ball inside."
 
For Samford in the game, Amara Mayers led the team with 12 points. Taylor Reece and Kassidy Blevins had 10 points and four rebounds each. Reece also dished out six assists. Destiney Elliott added nine points and six rebounds, while Brittany Stevens contributed eight points for the Bulldogs.
 
Whitney Bunn led Furman with 13 points. Holli Wilkins scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Paladins. Allison Beasley added nine points and eight rebounds for Furman.
 
Samford got off to a hot start in the first quarter, racing out to 13-3 lead with 5:12 to go in the period following a basket by Mayers. With Samford holding a 15-5 advantage, Furman scored the final five points of the quarter to cut the Samford lead to 15-10 after one period.
 
Furman opened the second period by scoring eight of the first 10 points of the quarter to take its first lead of the game at 18-17 with 6:21 to go in the quarter after a basket by Cierra Carter. The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes. With Samford trailing, 25-22, the Bulldogs scored six of the final seven points of the period to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room at halftime following a three-pointer by Mayers in the closing seconds of the period.
 
After Furman tied the game at 28-28 early in the third quarter, Samford went on a 9-1 run to take a 37-29 lead with 5:12 left in the period after a three-pointer by Reece. The Bulldogs held a nine-point advantage after three quarters at 42-33 following a three-pointer by Keke Fletcher in the closing seconds of the period.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to 11 points at 44-33 early in the fourth quarter. With Samford leading, 46-35, Furman scored six-straight points to cut the lead to five points at 46-41 with 7:12 to go after a three-pointer by Bunn. Samford then went on an 8-2 run to push its lead to 54-43 with 2:30 to go after a three-pointer by Reece.
 
Furman fought back to cut the lead to nine points at 54-45 with 1:35 to go following a layup by Bunn. Mayers and Elliott hit two free throws each down the stretch as Samford pulled away for the 58-45 win.
 
As a team, Samford made 43.4 percent of its shots overall, including a 42.1-percent effort from three-point range. Furman shot just 32.1 percent overall and 14.8 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 30, when the Bulldogs play at Wofford. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from Spartanburg, S.C.