BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford women's basketball team wrapped up non-conference play with a 74-50 win over Cumberland University Friday night in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford improved to 8-7 on the season. This marks the first time Samford has posted a winning non-conference record since the 2017-18 season. Cumberland fell to 7-6 with the loss.
 
"It was good to just get back in the win column," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "It was good to have the ability to work out some kinks, work on some things that we've been struggling with. I really challenged this team in the second half to up our defensive intensity and I think we did that. Our transition game was really good, our ability to find the lead post in transition was really great."
 
Samford was led in the win by Carly Heidger with 20 points and nine rebounds. Emily Bowman posted her first double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Freshman Kennedy Langham scored a career-high 14 points for the Bulldogs.
 
Kayla Gordon led Cumberland with 15 points. Lindsey Freeman tallied 10 points and nine rebounds for the Phoenix.
 
Samford jumped out to an early 10-2 lead with 6:16 to go in the first quarter following a jumper by Bowman. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 11 points at 18-7 with 1:07 left in the quarter after a layup by Heidger. Cumberland scored the final five points of the first quarter to cut the lead to 18-12 at the end of the first period.
 
Cumberland cut the Samford lead to four points at 20-16 with 8:30 to go in the second period following a jumper by Freeman. Samford answered with an 8-0 run to increase its lead to 28-16 with 3:27 left before halftime after a layup by Alonya Waldon. After Cumberland cut the lead to 10 points at 30-20, Samford scored six of the last seven points of the second quarter to take a 36-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
After Samford made the score 38-21 early in the third quarter, Cumberland went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 11 points at 40-29 with 6:57 left in the quarter after a layup by Majae Eubanks. The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to 18 points at 54-36 with 1:23 to go in the third quarter after a layup by Heidger. Samford led, 56-40 at the end of the third period.
 
Samford opened the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run to push its lead to 22 points at 66-44 with 5:03 left in the game following a layup by Langham. Cumberland cut the lead to 18 points to 68-50, but Samford scored the final six points of the game to finish the 74-50 win.
 
Samford will next go on the road to open Southern Conference play at ETSU on Thursday, Jan. 11. The game is set for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from Johnson City, Tenn.






 
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