CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Samford women's basketball team picked up its first Southern Conference win of the season with a 62-47 victory at Western Carolina Thursday night at the Ramsey Center.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 6-10 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play. Western Carolina falls to 6-11 overall and 0-3 in league contests.
 
"Overall, our team really bounced back from Monday night after a pretty challenging, tough loss," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "I think we responded, I think our defense really carried us tonight. I thought everyone that stepped on the floor contributed in a number of ways, but I think defense and rebounding really carried us tonight."
 
Andrea Cournoyer led Samford with 15 points and eight rebounds. Sussy Ngulefac had 14 points, while Natalie Armstrong added 10 points. Annie Ramil had a team-high 10 rebounds in the win.
 
For Western Carolina, Zanoria Cruz scored a game-high 18 points. Vanessa Oduah added 10 points for the Catamounts.
 
Samford scored the first seven points of the game to take an early 7-0 lead with 7:59 to go in the first quarter following a layup by Cournoyer. Western Carolina fought back to cut the Samford lead to one point at 12-11 after two free throws by Cruz with 3:25 left in the first period. The Bulldogs held a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Bulldogs stretched their lead out to nine points at 22-13 with 6:05 to go in the second quarter after a put-back layup by Armstrong. With Samford leading, 26-17, Western Carolina closed the second quarter with an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 28-25 at halftime.
 
Western Carolina took a 29-28 lead with 8:54 to go in the third quarter after a pair of free throws by Oduah. With the game tied at 31-31, Samford scored the next seven points to take a 38-31 lead with 4:52 left in the third quarter after two free throws by Armstrong. Samford pushed its lead to 14 points at 47-33 late in the third quarter, and the Bulldogs held a 47-36 lead at the end of the third quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, Samford pushed its lead back out to 14 points at 51-37 with 8:11 to go after a driving layup by Sanaa Redmond. After WCU cut the lead to nine points at 53-44, Samford went on a 7-0 run to push its lead to 60-44 with 1:08 to go after a free throw by Ngulefac. Samford finished with a 62-47 win.
 
Samford will play at UNCG Saturday, Jan. 15. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. (CT) start from Greensboro, N.C.


 
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