JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 57-40 decision to ETSU in the SoCon opener for both teams Thursday night at Brooks Gymnasium.
 
With the loss, Samford fell to 8-8 overall and 0-1 in Southern Conference play. ETSU improved to 12-4 overall and 1-0 in league action.
 
Samford was led in the loss by Sadie Stetson with 14 points. She made 4-of-6 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Carly Heidger scored eight points, while Emily Bowman followed with seven points and six rebounds.
 
For ETSU, Courtney Moore led the way with 17 points. Brecken Snotherly added 15 points for the Bucs.
 
ETSU started the game off hot, jumping out to an early 17-2 lead with 3:18 left in the first quarter after a layup by Snotherly. Samford ended the quarter on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to 20-11 at the end of the first period.
 
The Bucs pushed their lead out to 17 points at 29-12 with 4:26 left in the second quarter following a layup by Meghan Downing. A three-point play by Samford's Alonya Waldon cut the lead to 14 at 29-15, but ETSU pushed its lead to 20 points at 36-16 heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
In the third quarter, Samford closed to within 17 on three different occasions, but trailed, 46-37 at the end of the period. Samford cut the lead to 16 points at 52-36 with 4:32 left in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs could get no closer as they eventually fell by a score of 57-40.
 
Samford will play at Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a 2 p.m. (CT) start from McKenzie Arena.
 
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