CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Samford women's basketball team went on the road and pulled out a hard-fought 77-67 Southern Conference win at Chattanooga Saturday afternoon at McKenzie Arena.
With the win, Samford improves to 9-13 overall and 4-4 in Southern Conference play. Chattanooga falls to 6-18 overall and 4-5 in league play.
"For us, overall, I thought we gave really good effort all game," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "We played together, really shared the ball. When you have four different players in double figures, that really sets you up for a good chance to have success. That's what we really emphasized, sharing the ball, moving the ball, and honestly tonight I just wanted to see them play hard and I think they did that. I thought we rebounded the ball much better than we did on Thursday."
Samford was led by junior guard Andrea Cournoyer with 28 points, seven rebounds and two assists. She made 11-of-15 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 from three-point range. The six made three-pointers tie a career high for Cournoyer.
Following Cournoyer for Samford, Sussy Ngulefac had 13 points, while Natalie Armstrong had 11 points and Audra Leipold had 10. Annie Ramil grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs. As a team, Samford shot 50.9 (29-of-57) percent from the floor and 50.0 percent (10-of-20) from three-point range.
For Chattanooga, Brooke Hampel led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds. Sigrun Olafsdottir had 15 points, while Dena Jarrells added 14 points for the Mocs.
With the game tied at 3-3 early, Samford went on a 13-2 run to take a 16-5 lead with 3:33 left in the first quarter after a three-pointer by Cournoyer. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 10 points at 18-8 with 2:39 left in the quarter after a layup by Armstrong. Samford held a 23-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs stretched their lead out to 17 points at 31-14 with 7:10 to go in the second quarter following a three-pointer by Sanaa Redmond. Chattanooga answered with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to nine points at 31-22 with 4:20 left in the second period following a jumper by Karsen Murphy. Samford pushed the lead back out to 15 points at 37-22 with 2:37 left in the second quarter after a free throw by Leipold. Samford held a 41-28 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
The Bulldogs extended their lead back to 17 points at 47-30 with 8:40 left in the third quarter after a layup by Shauntai Battle. The Mocs fought back to cut the lead to six points at 52-46 with 2:21 remaining in the third quarter after a free throw by Olafsdottir. Samford pushed the lead back to nine points at 58-49 at the end of the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Samford extended the lead back out to 13 points at 62-49 with 9:00 to go after a layup by Cournoyer. Chattanooga cut the lead to six points at 72-66, but a three-pointer by Cournoyer pushed Samford's lead back to nine at 75-66 with 3:02 to go. Samford increased its lead back out to 11 points at 77-66 late, and the Bulldogs came away with the 77-67 win.
Samford will return home to play host to ETSU on Monday, Feb. 7. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
For the latest news and information on Samford women's basketball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordWomensBasketball (Facebook), @SamfordWBB (Instagram) and @SamfordWBB (Twitter).
