BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford women's basketball team overcame a slow start to pick up its fourth-straight win in a 64-51 victory over Western Carolina Saturday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
"We knew it was going to be an ugly game, it was our fifth game in 10 days," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "We just had to get a little bit of a rhythm; settle into the things we were looking for. We had too many turnovers in the first quarter. Honestly, our defense made a huge difference, I thought we upped it defensively, and we got the ball inside."
With the win, Samford improves to 12-13 overall and 7-4 in Southern Conference play. Western Carolina falls to 6-19 overall and 0-11 in league play.
Samford was led in the win by freshman Sussy Ngulefac with 15 points, making 7-of-8 shots from the floor. Andrea Cournoyer had 11 points and four assists, and Mallory Hampton added 11 points as well. Annie Ramil had eight points and five rebounds for Samford.
Western Carolina was led by Endia Holliday with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Western Carolina jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with 3:18 to go in the first quarter following a layup by Andrea Martin Ruiz. The Catamounts built their lead to eight points at 12-4 after a three-pointer by Bailey Trumm with 1:37 left in the opening period. WCU held a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Samford cut the lead to two points at 18-16 with 8:21 to go in the second quarter after a three-pointer by Cournoyer. After Western Carolina pushed the lead back out to 22-16, Samford closed the second quarter on a 15-0 run to take a 31-22 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
Samford opened the third quarter with a 15-2 run to push the lead to 46-24 with 4:04 left in the period after a layup by Ramil. Western Carolina cut the lead to 15 points at 48-33 late in the third quarter, and Samford led, 51-33 at the end of the period.
The Bulldogs stretched the lead out to 23 points at 59-36 with 6:38 to go following a jumper by Cournoyer. Western Carolina cut the lead to 13 points at 64-51 with 2:03 left after a layup by Makaylyn Davis. Samford finished the game with the 64-51 victory.
Samford will go on the road for its next two games. The Bulldogs will play at Furman on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. (CT) and then will play at Wofford on Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. (CT).
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