ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Samford women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament with a 59-40 win over UNC Greensboro Thursday afternoon at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.
With the win, Samford improves to 13-16, and the Bulldogs advance to Friday's semifinal round where Samford will take on top-seeded Mercer. UNC Greensboro ends its season with a mark of 9-19.
"We live to play another day, which that's what March is all about," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "We knew it was going to be a tough, physical game, Greensboro plays extremely physical, rebounds the ball really well, really good defensive team, and I thought they did a really good job of trying to keep the ball out of the paint on us. I thought we settled in in the first half and found different ways to score, had people step up. Our guards stepped up big making pull-ups, and that's what it takes, is different people stepping up. Olivia Ramil hadn't played all season, was able to get her out there and it just takes everybody at this time of year. I'm proud of my team, and like I said, we live to play another day."
Andrea Cournoyer led Samford with 15 points in the win. Sussy Ngulefac and Mallory Hampton tallied 10 points each. Annie Ramil grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with her six points.
For UNC Greensboro, Aja Boyd led the way with 13 points. Isys Grady followed with seven points and nine rebounds for the Spartans.
The teams traded baskets early, with UNC Greensboro leading, 6-4 at the first-quarter media time out with 4:37 left in the period. With the score tied at 8-8, Samford scored the next five points to take a 13-8 lead on a three-pointer by Kathleen Wheeler with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter. Samford held a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 24-14 with 4:09 to go in the second quarter following a layup by Ngulefac. UNCG scored the next five points to cut the lead to 24-19. Samford, however, closed the quarter with a 6-0 run to take a 30-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Samford built a 15-point lead at 34-19 with 8:19 to go in the third quarter after a jumper by Cournoyer. UNCG fought back to cut the lead to 10 points at the end of the third quarter at 39-29.
The Spartans cut the lead to eight points at 39-31 with 9:11 to go on a layup by Boyd, but on Samford's next possession, Hampton hit a deep three-pointer as the shot clock ran down to push the lead back to 42-31. Samford then pushed the lead back to 13 points at 44-31 with 7:59 to go after a layup by Ngulefac. Samford built its lead up to 16 points at 49-33 with 4:02 to go on a three-point play by Cournoyer. The Bulldogs led by as many as 19 points down the stretch, and the Bulldogs pulled out the 59-40 victory.
Friday's semifinal game between Samford and Mercer is scheduled for a 10 a.m. (CT) start and can be seen live on ESPN+.
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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).
