BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 69-64 decision to the North Alabama Lions Tuesday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 7-5 on the season. North Alabama improved to 4-7 with the win.
 
"That's a really tough team to play against because of how they play," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "They play very fast, the fastest we'll see. We told our team, you've got to win the first seven seconds of the shot clock. I don't think our transition defense was not very excellent today and it resulted in a lot of points for them on the other end. I thought our half-court defense was fairly solid, it was just the transition."
 
Samford was led in the loss by Carly Heidger with 19 points and six rebounds. Freshmen Kennedy Langham and Alonya Waldon had 11 points each. Kiersten Nelson added 10 points for the Bulldogs.
 
For North Alabama, Alexis Callins led the way with 16 points. Alyssa Clutter and Sara Wohlgemuth added 14 points each for the Lions. Wohlgemuth also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for UNA.
 
In the first quarter, Samford fell behind, 7-1, but the Bulldogs answered with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 7-6 with 5:07 left in the period after a three-pointer by Lexie Pritchard. With Samford trailing, 13-11, the Bulldogs scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 15-13 lead at the end of the period.
 
North Alabama opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 22-15 lead with 6:36 left in the quarter. Samford answered with an 11-2 run to take a 26-24 lead with 1:55 to go in the period after a pair of free throws by Heidger. Samford took a 27-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Lions opened the third quarter with a 14-2 run to take a 40-29 lead at the 7:08 mark in the quarter after two free throws by Clutter. North Alabama built its lead to 17 points at 50-33 with 2:17 to go in the third period after a pair of free throws by Wohlgemuth. Samford fought back to cut the lead to 11 points late in the third quarter, but UNA took a 54-40 lead at the end of the third quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, Samford opened the period with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to eight points at 58-50 with 5:52 to go after a three-pointer by Heidger. With Samford trailing, 69-56, the Bulldogs scored the final eight points of the game to make the final score 69-64.
 
Samford will next play at Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 29. The game is set for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Richmond, Ky.




 
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