JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 76-69 decision to the ETSU Bucs Thursday evening at Brooks Gymnasium.

With the loss, Samford falls to 8-13 overall and 3-4 in Southern Conference play. ETSU improves to 3-17 overall and 2-5 in league action.

Andrea Cournoyer led Samford in the loss with 19 points and seven rebounds. Mallory Hampton had 13 points, while Sussy Ngulefac had 10 points. Annie Ramil tallied seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

For ETSU, Damiah Griffin led the way with 14 points. Courtney Moore and Carly Hooks added 12 points each for the Bucs.

ETSU jumped out to an early 10-4 lead with 6:14 to go in the first quarter after a layup by Demi Burdick. Samford answered with an 8-0 run to take a 12-10 lead at the 3:40 mark in the first quarter following a layup by Ngulefac. ETSU scored the next six points to take a 16-12 lead with 2:31 left in the opening period after a three-pointer by Griffin. The Bulldogs scored the last six points of the first quarter to take an 18-16 lead at the end of the period.

After Samford built a 20-16 lead early in the second quarter, ETSU went on an 8-0 run to take a 24-20 lead with 7:49 to go in the quarter after a three-pointer by Sarah Thompson. ETSU took a six-point lead at 33-27 heading into the locker room at halftime.

The Bucs built a seven-point lead at 36-29 with 8:13 to go in the third quarter following a three-pointer by Griffin. Samford came back to cut the lead to three points at 36-33 with 7:57 left in the third period after a four-point play by Cournoyer. ETSU pushed the lead back out to six points at 41-35 at the 6:26 mark in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Griffin. Samford scored eight of the next 10 points to tie the score at 43-43 after a jumper by Audra Leipold with 4:17 left in the third period. Samford took the lead for the first time in the second half at 47-45 after two free throws by Hampton with 3:37 left in the third quarter. The Bulldogs held a 51-50 lead at the end of the third quarter.

ETSU opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 58-53 lead with 7:15 to go after a three-pointer by Aaliyah Vananda. Samford cut the lead to two points at 58-56 with 7:03 to go after a three-point play by Hampton. ETSU answered with an 8-0 run to push its lead to 66-56 with 4:34 remaining after a three-pointer by Moore. Samford cut the lead to four points at 69-65 with 1:43 to go after a layup by Natalie Armstrong. Samford, however, could get no closer as ETSU hung on for the 76-69 win.

Samford will play at Chattanooga on Saturday, Feb. 5. The game is set for a 2 p.m. (CT) start from UTC's McKenzie Arena.

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