BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team remained unbeaten on the season with a 69-47 win over Alabama State Saturday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"I'm super proud of this win," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "We knew this was going to be a physical, athletic team. I really challenged them at halftime, I thought we were a little bit complacent on the boards. I thought we responded to that extremely well. We had 17 offensive rebounds against an extremely athletic team, and I thought that was the difference in the game."
 
With the win, Samford improved to 4-0 on the young season. This is the best start to a season for Samford since the 2008-09 season when the Bulldogs won their first five games of the season. Alabama State fell to 0-5 with the loss.
 
Samford was led in the win by Masyn Marchbanks with 12 points. Carly Heidger had 11 points and seven rebounds. Emily Bowman and Rylie Stephens had nine points each, while Lexie Pritchard dished out a career-high eight assists.
 
For Alabama State, Shmya Ward had 16 points and five rebounds. Che'Mya Carouthers and Ashley Gray had seven points each for the Hornets.
 
In the first quarter, Samford jumped out to an early 12-2 lead with 6:30 left in the period after a pair of free throws by Heidger. Alabama State cut the lead back to six points at 12-6, but Samford held a 20-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Alabama State cut the Samford lead to four points at 24-20 with 5:48 left in the second quarter after a three-pointer by Carouthers. With Samford leading, 26-22, the Bulldogs scored seven of the last nine points of the quarter to take a 33-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
ASU closed to within eight points at 36-28 with 7:37 left in the third quarter after a layup by Ward. Samford pushed the lead back out to 14 points at 42-28 and the Bulldogs held a 48-32 lead at the end of the third period.
 
Samford opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 55-32 lead with 7:42 to go following a jumper by Heidger. Samford led by as many as 25 points down the stretch and the Bulldogs came away with the 69-47 win.
 
Samford will next travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., for the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic. The Bulldogs will take on North Texas next Friday at 1 p.m. and Southern Mississippi on Saturday at 4 p.m.  
 
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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).