BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team saw its five-game win streak snapped in a 71-59 loss to Southern Conference-leading UNC Greensboro Thursday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
"I think we showed up to play on our toes, I thought we played in attack mode," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "I thought we let them get comfortable there in the second quarter and we have been making teams super uncomfortable defensively, so I didn't love that. I thought we stepped that up in the second half. We knew they were going to come out and play a little more physically and aggressively. We only had eight turnovers, but they came at costly times, we had about three or four in a row and that's what broke open the game. I thought we went into panic mode a little when they went on a run. We've just got to continue to clean things up."
 
With the loss, Samford dropped its season record to 12-17 overall and 7-6 in Southern Conference play. UNCG improved its season mark to 21-6 overall and 12-1 in league play.
 
Samford was led in the loss by Aubrey Blankenship with 15 points, making 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Claire Johnson tallied 11 points for the Bulldogs, while Sierra Godbolt added nine points.
 
For UNCG, Jayde Gamble led the way with 19 points. Cain Khalis had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Nya Smith added 11 points for the Spartans.
 
UNC Greensboro jumped out to an early 7-2 lead with 5:44 to go in the first quarter following a jumper by Gamble. Samford fought back to take an 8-7 lead following back-to-back three-pointers by Johnson and Blankenship at the 5:03 mark in the first period. The Spartans came back to take a 12-8 lead with 3:30 left in the first quarter after a layup by Smith. Samford came back to take a 15-13 lead with 38 seconds left on a layup by Godbolt. Samford held a 17-16 lead at the end of the first period.
 
Samford built a 24-20 lead with 5:55 to go in the second period after a three-pointer by Johnson. UNC Greensboro fought back to tie the score at 30-30 with 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter following a jumper by Yacine N'Diaye. Samford's Kennedy Langham hit one-of-two free throws with two seconds left to send Samford to halftime with a 31-30 advantage.
 
In the third quarter, Samford built a five-point lead at 41-36 with 4:09 left in the period after a free throw by Annie Ramil. UNCG, however, closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 46-43 lead entering the final quarter.
 
UNC Greensboro pulled away in the fourth quarter, building a 65-50 lead with 2:49 to play after a layup by Nia Howard. Samford could get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way as UNCG finished with the 71-59 win.
 
Samford will wrap up its regular season by hosting Western Carolina on Saturday, March 1. The game is set for a 2 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.




 
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