BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team dropped a 72-67 decision in overtime to Florida A&M Friday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
With the loss, Samford fell to 4-10 on the season. Florida A&M improved to 2-8 with the win.
"We knew coming in that team was going to be extremely physical," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "They press for 40 minutes, they've turned teams over 30-plus times all season, so we emphasized that big time all week in practice. We started the game excellent at handling the ball, handling their pressure, just keeping it simple. That's been the story of our season, when things get just a little awry and we get a little bit flustered, man we just snowball and it turns into six, seven, eight turnovers in a row. We've got to find a way to clean that up."
Samford was led in the loss by Annie Ramil with 17 points and nine rebounds. Kennedy Langham scored 12 points, while Sierra Godbolt had 10 points and 10 assists. As a team, Samford committed 26 turnovers in the game.
Florida A&M was led by Cheyenne McEvans with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sabou Gueye tallied 14 points for the Rattlers. Florida A&M committed 30 turnovers in the contest.
Samford jumped out to a 9-6 lead with 5:47 to go in the first quarter following a layup off a steal by Godbolt. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 15-10 with 3:21 remaining in the opening period after a layup by Alonya Waldon. Florida A&M came back to tie the score at 16-16 with 1:48 to go in the first quarter, and the score remained tied at the end of the period.
The Bulldogs took a 22-16 lead to open the second quarter off back-to-back three-pointers by Godbolt and Claire Johnson. The Rattlers cut the lead to 22-20 at the 5:28 mark in the second period after a layup by D'mya Griffin. Samford answered with a 12-0 run to push the lead to 34-20 with 1:19 left in the second quarter after a layup by Waldon. Samford took a 35-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
With Samford leading, 37-25, FAMU went on a 15-0 run to take a 40-37 lead with 1:57 to go in the third quarter following a jumper by McEvans. Samford closed the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 44-40 lead at the end of the third period.
After a FAMU three-pointer cut the lead to one point at 44-43, Samford scored the next five points for a 49-43 advantage with 8:06 to go after a pair of free throws by Langham. FAMU answered with an 11-1 run to take a 54-50 lead with 3:46 left after a layup by Gueye. Samford answered with a 6-0 run to take a 56-54 lead with 1:23 left after a layup by Langham. FAMU's Gueye made a pair of free throws with 8.7 seconds left to knot the score at 56-56. Neither team could score the rest of the way and the team's headed to overtime.
Florida A&M jumped out to a five-point lead at 63-58 with 3:12 left in overtime following a three-pointer by Eve Alexander. Samford came back to cut the lead to one at 65-64 after a three-pointer by Alyssa Tarpley with 1:42 left. A jumper by Alexander gave FAMU a 67-64 lead with 1:11 to go.
A free throw by Alexander made it 68-64 with 18.1 seconds left. Samford missed a three-pointer on its possession, and FAMU's Gueye made one free throw, and Ivet Subirats made a layup off the second miss for a 71-64 lead with 10 seconds to go. Tarpley made a three-pointer with 3.0 seconds left to cut the lead to 71-67, but Samford could get no closer as the Bulldogs fell, 72-67.
Samford will next play host to Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, Jan. 29. The game is set for a 2 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.
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