Jan. 30, 2003

Final Stats

BIRMINGHAM, AL -- Florida Atlantic University closed the game outscoring Samford University 27-6 over the final 7:33 and defeated the Bulldogs 60-46 in Birmingham, AL. Tamica Pierce led all scores with 21 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds. Pierce went 7-for-9 from the filed, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

FAU improved to 7-10 on the year and 5-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The win kept the Lady Owls in a first-place tie with UCF in the A-Sun South. Samford dropped to 4-13 and 0-6.

FAU struggled in the first half, trailing 28-17 at the break. The Lady Owls made just six field goals in 22 tries and also committed 15 first half turnovers. At one point, Samford led 25-12 before FAU closed the half within 11.

In the second half, FAU opened up with a 10-0 run, only to see the Bulldogs respond and stretch their lead to seven points. Trailing 40-33, FAU went on another 10-0 run to take a 43-40 lead with 5:42 to play. From that point, the Lady Owls would not trail again. FAU held Samford to one field goal in the final 5:30.

"It was a great effort tonight by Tamica," said FAU head coach Chancellor Dugan. "She hit some big shots for us tonight. Overall, I was proud of the way we were able to make the plays when it counted. It says a lot about the character of this team"

Angie Rodgers and Shontavia Williams both finished with 10 points. Rodgers scored all of her points in the second half.

FAU finished the game shooting 37.2 percent while holding Samford to 29.1 percent. The Lady Owls turned the ball over 20 times and forced Samford into 17 miscues. FAU controlled the boards by a 40-37 margin.

Florida Atlantic next faces Belmont University Saturday afternoon in Nashville, TN.