BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 64-62 Southern Conference victory over the Wofford Terriers Thursday evening in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford improved to 13-14 overall and 5-7 in Southern Conference play. Wofford fell to 15-10 overall and 7-4 in league play.
 
"Obviously, we were down Carly (Heidger) today and I thought the team really rallied," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "Different people stepped up, we put a bunch of different people in. We played, at times, five guards, and we haven't done that all season. They just bought in and did whatever we asked them to do tonight."
 
Samford was led in the win by Emily Bowman with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Sadie Stetson had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Kennedy Langham also had 14 points. Alyssa Tarpley had a season-high 10 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs.
 
For Wofford, Rachael Rose had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Maddie Heiss tallied 15 points, while Evangelia Paulk added 12 points for the Terriers.
 
Samford jumped out to an early 11-4 lead with 5:44 left in the first quarter following a three-pointer by Tarpley. Wofford fought back to take a 17-15 lead with 1:09 left in the opening period, but Stetson hit a three-pointer for Samford with 28 seconds left to give the Bulldogs an 18-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Samford pushed its lead to five points at 22-17 with 9:11 left in the second quarter after a jumper by Stetson. With Samford leading, 26-20, Wofford scored nine straight points to take a 29-26 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Bulldogs opened the third quarter with back-to-back three-pointers by Tarpley and Stetson to take a 32-29 lead with 9:22 left in the period. Wofford took a 33-32 lead at the 8:00 mark in the third after a jumper by Vitolia Tuilave. Samford came back to take a 37-33 lead with 5:38 left in the third period after a three-pointer by Stetson. Samford held a 42-37 lead at the end of the third period.
 
Samford stretched its lead out to nine points at 48-39 with 8:06 to go after a free throw by Bowman. Wofford cut the lead to six points at 50-44 with 5:37 remaining following a three-pointer by Ja'Rae Smith. Samford pushed its lead out to 10 points at 58-48 with 2:23 to go after a jumper by Langham.
 
With Samford leading, 60-50, Wofford went on a 9-1 run to cut the lead to two points at 61-59 with 23 seconds left after a jumper by Rose. Langham then made two free throws for Samford to make the score 63-59 with 20 seconds left. Samford was able to get a stop and then Stetson made one-of-two free throws to make the score 64-59 with 11 seconds to go. A three-pointer by Wofford's Paulk cut the lead to 64-62 with six seconds left. After a pair of missed Samford free throws, Wofford's last-second shot was off the mark and Samford held on for the 64-62 win.
 
Samford will remain at home to host the Furman Paladins Saturday afternoon. The game is set for a 4:30 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.




 
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