BOX SCORE (PDF)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Samford women's basketball team led for most of the second half, but could not hold off a fourth-quarter Chattanooga rally as the Bulldogs fell to the Mocs, 51-45 Saturday afternoon at The McKenzie Arena.
Samford had its chances to upset the Mocs, who have not lost a home conference game since 2011. Samford head coach
Mike Morris said he was proud of the effort of his team.
"We have to find just one possession on each end of the floor to do a little better," Morris said. "Then we'll get the win in games like this."
Samford was led in the loss by
Katie Allen with nine points.
Lydia McGee scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds, while
Cassidy Williams added six points for the Bulldogs.
Brittany Stevens dished out seven assists for Samford.
Keiana Gilbert led Chattanooga with 14 points. Chelsey Shumpert followed with 11 points for the Mocs.
Samford got off to a hot start, taking an early 7-2 lead with 5:10 to go in the first quarter following a basket by Stevens. Chattanooga answered with 9-0 run to take an 11-7 lead with 25 seconds left in the period after a free throw by Keiana Gilbert. Chattanooga held an 11-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Chattanooga pushed its lead out to 14-9 with 8:17 left in the period after a three-pointer by Aryanna Gilbert. Samford then went on a 6-0 run to take a 15-14 lead with 6:33 to go in the quarter on a three-pointer by
Kassidy Blevins. Chattanooga scored the next five points to take a 19-15 lead, but Samford scored six of the last seven points in the quarter to take a 21-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Samford scored the first five points of the third quarter to push its lead out to six points at 26-20 with 7:34 left in the quarter after a layup by Blevins. Chattanooga fought back to cut the lead to two points at 28-26 with 4:14 to go in the period after a layup by Shumpert.
The Bulldogs scored the next five points to push their lead to 33-26 with 3:22 left in the period after a three-pointer by Williams. Chattanooga cut the lead to two points at 35-33 with 1:21 left in the period after a free throw by Keiana Gilbert. Allen then hit a three-pointer late in the third quarter to give Samford a 38-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Chattanooga tied the game at 38-38 early in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Williams and a layup by Stevens gave Samford the lead again at 43-38 with 6:06 to go. Chattanooga, however, answered with a 9-0 run to take a 47-43 lead with 3:57 to go after two free throws by Keiana Gilbert. After a layup by McGee cut the lead to 47-45 with 2:37 to go, Samford was unable to score the rest of the way, and four Chattanooga free throws down the stretch allowed the Mocs to pull out the 51-45 win.
As a team, Samford shot 33.3 percent overall and 27.6 percent from three-point range. Chattanooga made 38.5 percent of its shots overall and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Chattanooga won the rebounding battle, 30-29.
With the loss, Samford falls to 9-15 overall and 2-7 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga improves to 14-9 overall and 8-1 in league games.
Samford will return to action Thursday evening when the Bulldogs host UNCG. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
