RICHMOND, Ky. -- The Samford women's basketball team fell in a hard-fought contest, 59-54, at Eastern Kentucky Friday night at Baptist Health Arena.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 7-6 on the season. Eastern Kentucky improved to 11-3 with the win.
 
Samford was led in the loss by Carly Heidger with 19 points, making 7-of-9 shots from the floor and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Lexie Pritchard and Masyn Marchbanks scored 10 points each for the Bulldogs. Emily Bowman grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Samford.
 
For Eastern Kentucky, Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor led the way with 13 points and eight rebounds. Ivy Turner added 11 points for the Colonels.
 
Eastern Kentucky jumped out to an early 11-2 lead with 3:58 to go in the first quarter following a pair of free throws by Turner. Samford scored the final five points of the quarter to end the period trailing, 11-7.
 
With Samford trailing, 15-9 in the second quarter, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to take a 17-15 lead with 4:46 to go in the period after a free throw by Bowman. EKU scored the next five points to take a 20-17 lead, but a three-pointer by Samford's Marchbanks knotted the score at 20-20 with 2:11 to go before halftime. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and the score was tied at 24-24 at halftime.
 
Samford took a 31-26 lead with 8:34 to go in the third quarter after a three-point play by Heidger. EKU came back to tie the game at 33-33, but a three-pointer by Samford's Pritchard gave the Bulldogs a 36-33 lead at the 5:19 mark in the third period. Samford pushed its lead back out to five points at 41-36, but EKU scored the final five points of the third quarter and the teams headed to the final period knotted at 41-41.
 
The Colonels scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to extend their run to 12-0 and take a 48-41 lead with 7:59 to play following a driving layup by McGinnis-Taylor. EKU pushed its lead to eight points at 51-43 with 7:23 left after a three-pointer by Turner. Samford fought back to cut the lead to just two points at 56-54 with 56 seconds left on a layup by Heidger. Samford, however, could get no closer as the Bulldogs fell by a score of 59-54.
 
Samford will remain in Kentucky to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. The game is set for a 12 p.m. (CT) start and can be seen live on SECN+.




 
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