BOX SCORE (PDF)

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Samford women's basketball team earned its first Southern Conference win of the season in a 49-42 victory at Western Carolina Thursday evening in the Ramsey Center.
 
"I'm super pleased with our players in how they approached this game," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought we played extremely hard. We didn't get off to a great start, but I thought our effort was good. We did a good job of just keeping our head up and keeping our poise and getting ready to defend. This was a good win and we needed it."
 
Samford improves to 7-10 overall and 1-2 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 5-13 overall and 0-3 in league play.
 
Samford's reserves stepped up big in the win. Bench players accounted for 38 of Samford's 49 points in the victory.
 
The Bulldogs were led in the win by freshman Katie Allen with a career-high 15 points. Senior Lydia McGee had 12 points and five rebounds for Samford. Senior Ellen Riggins grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while freshman Charity Brown dished out a team-high six assists.
 
Western Carolina was led by Sherae Bonner with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Raziyah Farrington and Nikki Johnson added eight points each for the Catamounts.
 
After Western Carolina scored the first five points of the game, Samford came back with an 11-0 run to take an 11-5 lead with 2:51 left in the first quarter following a three-pointer by Allen. Samford held an 11-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 
Western Carolina cut the Samford lead to one point at 11-10 with 7:57 left in the second quarter. Samford then scored the next six points to push its lead to 17-10 with 5:45 left in the period after a basket by Riggins. WCU fought back to cut the Samford lead to one at 19-18 with 41 seconds left in the quarter. Samford held a 22-20 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Catamounts took a 25-23 lead with 7:44 left in the third quarter after a three-pointer by Lauren LaPlant. Samford answered with an 11-1 run to take a 34-26 lead with 3:57 left in the period after a jumper by Olivia Crozier. Samford led, 38-30 at the end of the third quarter.
 
Samford pushed its lead out to 11 points early in the fourth quarter at 41-30 with 9:44 left after a three-pointer by Allen. Western Carolina was able to cut the Samford lead to just four points at 43-39 with 44 seconds left in the game. Late free throws by Hannah Nichols and Samantha Fitzgerald helped Samford hold on for the 49-42 win.
 
As a team, Samford shot 33.3 percent overall and 22.7 percent from three-point range. Western Carolina made 23.9 percent of its attempts overall and 33.3 percent from the beyond the arc.
 
Samford will return to action when the Bulldogs play at UNCG on Jan. 14. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. (CT) start from Greensboro, N.C. The game can be heard on WVSU-FM 91.1, and it can be viewed online via ESPN3.