Women's Basketball Stages Huge Comeback To Down Troy, 80-73

Sunday, December 17

Birmingham, Ala.

2:00 PM (CT)

Samford University

5-6

Troy

5-4

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Troy	23	18	14	18	73
Samford	11	22	14	33	80

Box Score (PDF)

Hannah Nichols led Samford with 27 points Sunday against Troy.

Women's Basketball Stages Huge Comeback To Down Troy, 80-73

12.17.17 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHOTO GALLERY

BOX SCORE (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team fell behind by 21 points in the second quarter, but came back to earn an 80-73 win over in-state rival Troy Sunday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.

"I was very pleased with our team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "For them to show that much toughness to come back, because Troy is a good team and was playing well, showed a ton of grit. That's one of the things we've talked about this year is having grit and being tougher, and we showed it today."

The 21-point deficit marks the largest overcome by a Samford team in program history. The game was also the 300^th win in program history. Samford improves to 5-6 with the win, while Troy falls to 5-4 with the loss.

Samford was led in the game by Hannah Nichols with 27 points and eight rebounds. Charity Brown had a career-high 18 points, to go along with her eight rebounds and 11 assists. Olivia Crozier tied a career high with 18 points for the Bulldogs.

Troy was led by Amber Rivers with 15 points. Kayla Robinson had 12 points and six rebounds, while Sky'Lynn Holmes added 10 points and six rebounds.

Samford trailed by 21 points at two points in the second quarter, at 36-15 and again at 37-16. The Bulldogs, however fought back with a 12-0 run to cut the lead to nine points at 36-27 with 1:15 left before halftime following a jumper by Brown. After a Holmes layup have Troy a 39-28 lead, Samford scored five of the final seven points of the period to cut the lead to eight points at halftime at 41-33.

In the third quarter, Troy opened the lead back out to 14 points at 50-36, 51-37 and 55-41, the last coming with 1:41 left in the quarter. Samford scored the final six points of the third quarter to cut the lead to eight points at 55-47, heading into the fourth quarter.

Samford opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run to take a 59-55 lead with 6:17 to go after a jumper by Nichols. Troy scored the next five points to take the lead back at 60-59 with 5:34 to go following a layup by Robinson. Brown then answered with a three-pointer to give Samford a 62-60 lead with 5:11 left in the game.

Troy, however, came back again to take a 65-62 lead after a three-pointer by Robinson at the 3:59 mark in the fourth quarter. Samford fought back to take a 68-67 lead on a layup by Crozier with 2:12 to go. A three-point play by Rivers gave Troy a 70-68 lead with 1:55 to go.

Samford scored the next six points to take a 74-70 lead with 1:19 to go following a three-pointer by Nichols. A jumper by Rivers cut the lead to 74-72 with 1:04 to go. Samford then opened up a 77-72 lead with 18 seconds to go following a free throw by Paige Serup. After a Robinson free throw cut the lead to 77-73, Brown and Nichols hit three free throws down the stretch to pull out the 80-73 win.

The lead changed hands seven times in the fourth quarter, with Samford outscoring Troy, 33-18 in that final period. For the game, Samford shot 41.0 percent from the floor, including a 75.0-percent (12-of-16) effort in the fourth quarter. Troy made 38.6 percent of its shots in the game.

Samford will host Southern Mississippi on Tuesday, Dec. 19. The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center and admission is FREE.