BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— The Samford women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 50-48 Senior Night win over Wofford in Southern Conference action Saturday night at the Pete Hanna Center.
The game was the final home game for Samford's four seniors. Taylor Reece, Krista Stricklin, Amara Mayers and Keke Fletcher were all honored in pre-game ceremonies.
"I'm really excited to get the win for our seniors," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "It was nice for them to enjoy a good Senior Day, they deserve that. Senior Day is very emotional, especially when you have four outstanding young ladies who have given so much to our program. To find a way to win is good for them and we'll enjoy it for a day or two before we have to get ready for the conference tournament."
Samford ends the regular season with a record of 19-10 overall and 11-3 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs will be the No. 3 seed in next week's Southern Conference Tournament. The pairings for the event will be released Sunday.
Individually, Samford was led by Reece with 10 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Destiney Elliott scored nine points, while Mayers added eight points for the Bulldogs.
Wofford was led by Kentra Washington with 12 points and seven rebounds. Grayson Pinholster and Maria Corella added 11 points apiece for the Terriers.
"It was a very hard win," Morris said. "Wofford played extremely well, they were good defensively. But, we found a way to win the game, even when we were not necessarily at our best. I'm happy for our seniors to experience this."
Wofford jumped out to an early lead at 8-6 with 6:44 to go in the first quarter following a three-pointer by Washington. Samford came back with a 10-0 run to take a 16-8 lead with 2:03 left in the period after a three-pointer by Fletcher. Samford held an 18-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Wofford cut the Samford lead to six points at 20-14 with 4:58 left in the period after a layup by Washington. Samford scored the final four points of the quarter, and the Bulldogs took a 24-14 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
In the third quarter, Wofford cut the Samford lead to just six points at 24-18 with 6:15 left in the period following a layup by Pinholster. The Terriers got as close as five points in the third quarter at 28-23. Samford, however, went on a 9-3 run to push its lead back out to 11 points at 37-26 with 2:32 left in the quarter after a basket by Elliott. Wofford scored the next six points to cut the lead to 37-32, and Samford held a 39-32 advantage entering the final period.
Samford scored five of the first six points of the fourth quarter to push its lead to 44-33 with 8:26 left in the game after a three-pointer by Mayers. With Samford leading, 45-35, Wofford scored the next five points to cut the lead to 45-40 with 4:29 to go after a layup by Pinholster.
After Samford pushed the lead back to seven at 47-40, Wofford scored five-straight points again to close to within two points at 47-45 with 57 seconds to go after a layup by Pinholster. A pair of free throws by Reece made the score 49-45 with 12 seconds left. Corella then hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 49-48 with four seconds left. Brittany Stevens hit a late free throw to make the final score 50-48.
As a team, Samford shot 32.7 percent from the floor, while Wofford made 36.2 percent of its shots. Wofford won the rebounding battle, 37-34.
