BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford women's basketball team picked up an impressive 65-49 win over Mercer Saturday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
With the win, Samford improved its record to 8-16 overall and 3-5 in Southern Conference play. Mercer fell to 7-16 overall and 2-6 in league play.
 
"I obviously thought we had a great first half," Samford head coach Carley Kuhns said. "I thought our defense was really good, and we held them to 23 points in the first half. We knew it was going to take a good defensive effort to win this game. We probably let it get a little ugly in the second half, but that team has the ability to come back. We talked about it halftime, they never go away, they play hard for 40 minutes. But I was proud, I thought we made some big plays when we needed them."
 
Samford was led in the win by freshman Claire Johnson with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Kennedy Langham scored 12 points, while Emily Bowman finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
 
For Mercer, Ariana Bennett led the way with 13 points and seven rebounds. Talia Harris had 11 points, while Ashlee Locke added 10 points for the Bears.
 
Mercer jumped out to an early 7-1 lead with 7:09 to go in the first quarter following a jumper by Locke. Samford answered with a 13-2 run to take a 14-9 lead with 2:55 left in the first period after a layup by Bowman. After Mercer fought back to cut the lead to one point at 14-13, a three-pointer by Sadie Stetson pushed the Samford lead to 17-13 at the 1:28 mark in the first period. Samford held a 20-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Mercer scored the first five points of the second period to cut the lead to 20-19 with 8:35 to go in the quarter after a three-pointer by Nahawa Diarra. Samford then went on a 9-0 run to push the lead to 10 points at 29-19 with 4:48 to go in the second quarter after a layup by Johnson. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 15 points at 36-21 with 1:09 to go in the second period after a three-pointer by Aubrey Blankenship. Samford held a 36-23 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
 
Samford extended its lead to 18 points at 41-23 with 8:37 to go in the third quarter after a layup by Annie Ramil. The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 22 points at 55-33 with 1:37 to go in the third quarter after a jumper by Langham. Samford held a 55-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, Mercer fought back to close to within 12 points at 59-47 with 4:29 to go after a jumper by Harris. The Bears, however, could get no closer as Samford finished with the 65-49 win.
 
Next up, Samford will play host to ETSU on Thursday, Feb. 13. The game is set for a 6 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.




 
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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).