BOX SCORE (PDF)

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Samford women's basketball team suffered a 53-48 Southern Conference setback at Furman Thursday night at Timmons Arena.
 
Samford falls to 10-17 overall and 3-9 in Southern Conference play with the loss. With its win, Furman improves to 14-13 overall and 7-4 in league games. Furman earns the season sweep over the Bulldogs, marking the first time Samford has been swept in a season series by the Paladins.
 
"This is a game we let slip away," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We defended well enough and took care of the ball well enough to win the game. We're just not shooting the ball well. We shot 40 percent from the free-throw line and 22 percent from the arc, and most of those were good looks."
 
As a team, Samford shot just 35.8 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from three-point range. Furman made 45.9 percent of its shots overall, and just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. Samford made just 4-of-10 free-throw attempts, while Furman made 16-of-24 attempts from the charity stripe.
 
In the loss, Samford was led by Hannah Nichols with 17 points. Kassidy Blevins scored 10 points for Samford.
 
For Furman, Stephania Oramas scored 15 points. DeAnneisha Jackson scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Cierra Carter had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Paladins.
 
The teams traded baskets throughout most of the first quarter, with neither team able to grab more than a three-point lead. With the game tied at 13-13, Furman scored the final five points of the quarter to take an 18-13 advantage into the second quarter.
 
Furman extended its lead to seven points at 20-13 with 9:40 to go in the second period after a pair of free throws by Carter. Samford answered with back-to-back three-pointers from Blevins and Nichols to cut the lead to just one at 20-19 with 7:27 left in the period.
 
After Furman extended its lead to four points at 23-19, Samford went on a 9-2 run to take a 28-25 lead with 2:41 left in the second quarter. A three-point play by Furman's Le'Jzae Davidson with just two seconds left in the period sent the teams to the locker room with a 28-28 tie.
 
With Furman leading, 30-28 early in the third quarter, Samford came back with a 10-1 run to take a 38-31 lead with 3:25 left in the period after a three-pointer by Katie Allen. Furman, however closed the period with a 10-0 run to take a 41-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
An early layup by Ellen Riggins cut the Furman lead to 41-40, but the Paladins scored the next six points to push their lead to 47-40 with 4:18 to go in the game. Samford fought back to cut the lead to two points at 49-47 with 1:21 left after a three-point play by Nichols.
 
A pair of free throws by Jackson pushed Furman's lead back to four at 51-47 with 1:08 to play. Nichols then made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to cut the lead to 51-48 with 59 seconds remaining. Samford, however, was unable to score the rest of the way and Furman held on for the 53-48 win.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 18, when the Bulldogs play at Wofford. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from Spartanburg, S.C.