BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford women's basketball team cruised to a convincing 112-61 win over Fisk Sunday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
The game was the first home game of the season for Samford. The Bulldogs are now 1-4 after opening the season with road games at Tennessee, Central Arkansas, Memphis and Florida State. Fisk fell to 1-4 with the loss.
"Obviously, it was exciting for us to be back home," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "We really challenged this team and didn't make it easy on them in the first two weeks of the season, opening with four on the road with three against Power Fives. But I think they rose to that challenge, and we got better over those two weeks."
Samford was led in the win by freshman Claire Johnson with a career-high 18 points. Kylee Lewandowski also had a career high with 17 points. Kennedy Langham had 14 points, Emily Bowman had 13 points and Sadie Stetson added 10 points. Sierra Godbolt dished out a team-high eight assists.
"I'm proud of this team," Kuhns said. "I thought we had a little bit of a slow start, but this team feeds off of each other and brings some energy. It was nice to see everybody get the opportunity to get minutes. We shared the ball well, we had 29 assists and only nine turnovers."
Fisk was led by Keely Oliver-Burton with 22 points. Jayla Bibbs had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Dee Scott added 12 points.
After Samford fell behind early, 5-2, the Bulldogs went on a 16-5 run to take an 18-10 lead with 3:26 left in the first quarter following a three-pointer by Lewandowski. Samford stretched its lead to 11 points at 23-12 at the 2:19 mark in the opening period after a pair of free throws by Bowman. Fisk cut the lead to five points at 25-20 with 1:16 left in the first quarter. Samford held a 29-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Samford built its lead out to 13 points at 35-22 with 7:24 left in the second quarter after a layup by Aubrey Blankenship. With Samford leading, 40-27, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run to push their lead to 20 points at 49-29 with 3:03 left in the period after a layup by Johnson. Fisk fought back to cut the lead to 15 points at 49-34, but Samford scored the next seven points to make the score 56-34 and the Bulldogs took a 56-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 24 points at 64-40 with 6:03 left in the third quarter after a pair of free throws by Johnson. Samford led by 28 points at 72-44 at the 2:54 mark in the third quarter after a layup by Blankenship. The Bulldogs built a 31-point lead at 78-47 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Samford led by as many as 51 points. The Bulldogs finished with the 112-61 victory.
Samford will play host to Montevallo on Tuesday, Nov. 19. The game is set for an 11 a.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center. The game is an Education Day game for Samford.
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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).
