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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford junior Hannah Nichols became just the eighth player in program history to score 1,000 career points, but the Bulldog women's basketball team dropped a 55-47 decision to the UNCG Spartans Thursday night in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Nichols led Samford with 11 points in the loss, giving her 1,006 points for her career. Nichols also led the team with seven rebounds. Behind Nichols, Lydia McGee and Brittany Stevens scored nine points each. Ellen Riggins added eight points for the Bulldogs.
 
For UNCG, Nadine Soliman led the way with 15 points and seven rebounds. Shanese Harris and Bailey Williams scored 12 points each for the Spartans. Te'ja Twitty led all players with 10 rebounds in the contest.
 
In the first quarter, Samford jumped out to an early 8-3 lead with 4:49 to go in the quarter after a layup by Stevens. After UNCG fought back to cut the lead to one at 8-7, Samford scored the next five points to push the lead out to six points at 13-7 with 2:53 left in period after another layup by Stevens. With the Bulldogs leading, 16-11, two late free throws by Harris cut the Samford lead to 16-13 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Early in the second quarter, Samford pushed its lead back out to six points at 21-15 with 7:31 to go after a three-pointer by Nichols. UNCG scored the next six points to tie the score at 21-21 with 5:02 left in the period after a three-pointer by Alexus Willey. Samford scored the next five points to go back up, 26-21 with 3:08 left in the quarter, but UNCG scored the final five points of the period, and the teams were tied, 26-26 heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
With Samford leading, 30-28 early in the third quarter, UNCG went on an 8-0 run to take a 36-30 lead with 4:41 to go in the period after a jumper by Soliman. Samford closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 37-36 lead on a last-second three-pointer by Nichols at the end of the third quarter.
 
UNCG opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 43-37 lead with 4:48 to go after a jumper by Williams. Samford fought back to tie the score at 45-45 with 2:59 left on a three-pointer by Nichols. UNCG responded with a 9-0 run to take a 54-45 lead with 16 seconds to go after a pair of free throws by Twitty. UNCG held on for the 55-47 victory.
 
As a team, Samford made 43.5 percent of its shots overall and 33.3 percent from three-point range. UNCG shot 36.7 percent overall and 35.7 percent from beyond the arc. UNCG outrebounded Samford, 35-25. The Spartans were 14-of-20 from the free-throw line, while Samford was 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
 
The loss was the fourth-straight for Samford, and the Bulldogs fall to 9-16 overall and 2-8 in Southern Conference play. UNCG improves to 14-11 overall and 5-5 in league games.
 
Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 11, when the Bulldogs host Western Carolina at 2 p.m. in the Pete Hanna Center. The game will be the Bulldogs' Play4Kay game, benefitting the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.