BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Samford junior guard Brittany Stevens scored a career-high 23 points to lead three players in double figures as the Bulldog women's basketball team earned a 77-63 Southern Conference win over Furman Thursday night in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 18-10 overall and 10-3 in SoCon play. Furman falls tom 14-14 overall and 7-6 in league games. Samford has now assured itself of at least a No. 3 seed in next week's SoCon Tournament.
 
"From an offensive standpoint, this is probably as well as we have played," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought Brittany did a great job with 23 points. Amara (Mayers) was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. I thought our team did a really good job of taking good shots and then obviously making them. I am really proud of that effort. Hopefully, we can keep our momentum going as we get ready to play Wofford."
 
Stevens' 23 points eclipses her previous career high of 17, scored against Furman in the 2015 SoCon Tournament. Behind Stevens for Samford, Amara Mayers scored 15 points, and Taylor Reece contributed 14 points. Ellen Riggins added nine points and a team-high six rebounds.
 
For Furman, Cierra Carter led the way with 23 points and eight rebounds. Whitney Bunn scored 17 points, while Kelsey Ellis added 14 points for the Paladins.
 
After Samford jumped out to an early 9-5 lead, Furman went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-9 lead with 5:09 left in the first quarter following a basket by Carter. Samford answered with a 12-0 run to take a 21-12 lead with 39 seconds left in the period after a jumper by Kassidy Blevins. Samford held a 21-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to 14 points at 30-16 with 6:47 left in the second period after a layup by Riggins. Furman fought back to cut the lead to seven points at 30-23 with 4:04 left in the quarter after a three-pointer by Ellis. Samford scored the next eight points to push its lead to 38-23 with 2:30 to go after a three-pointer by Blevins. Samford took a 38-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to as many as 24 points at 54-30 with 4:12 to go in the third quarter following a layup by Stevens. Furman scored the final eight points of the third quarter to cut the Samford lead to 54-38 heading into the final period.
 
Furman cut the Samford lead to just 11 points at 55-44 with 8:34 left in the game after a layup by Ellis. Samford pushed the lead back out to 16 points at 62-46 with 6:35 left after a layup by Riggins. Furman came back to cut the lead to 10 points at 64-54 with 4:42 left after a three-pointer by Carter.
 
The Paladins got as close as eight points in the fourth quarter at 69-61 with 1:08 left following a three-pointer by Ellis. Samford, however, scored the next six points to push its lead back out to 14 points at 75-61 with 32 seconds left after two free throws by Mayers. Samford eventually came away with the 77-63 win.
 
As a team, Samford made 50.9 percent of its shots overall and 47.1 percent from three-point range. Furman shot 42.6 percent overall and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Samford won the rebounding battle, 31-30. The Samford defense forced Furman into 16 turnovers, while the Bulldogs committed just 10 of their own.
 
Samford will wrap up its regular season on Feb. 27, when the Bulldogs host Wofford. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.