Strong Second Half Lifts Women's Hoops To Sixth-Straight Win, 61-49, At Morehead State

Jan. 17, 2008

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Samford women's basketball team used a strong second-half performance to earn its sixth-straight win in a 61-49 Ohio Valley Conference victory at Morehead State Thursday night.

Samford (13-5, 6-2 OVC) outscored Morehead State (6-11, 4-5 OVC), 38-21 in the second half to overcome a slow start and take the win.

"Morehead, defensively was very good in the first half and we didn't do a very good job of making the extra pass in our offense in the first half," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "In the second half, we were more aggressive and were making the extra passes and we were able to find the open shooters.

"We also got a tremendous defensive effort from Monica Maxwell and Taryn Towns," Morris said. "For us to have a chance to win, particularly on the road, we have to have a team effort, and everyone who played tonight contributed."

Samford was led in scoring by Alex Munday with 18 points, 14 coming in the second half. Emily London scored 16 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Savannah Hill scored 13 points and Chika Okoli added 10 for the Bulldogs.

As a team, Samford shot 42.1 percent for the game, 53.6 percent in the second half.

Morehead State was led by Brittany Pittman with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Tarah Combs added nine points for the Eagles.

Morehead State led throughout the first half. With the Eagles leading, 5-4, they went on an 8-0 run to take a 13-4 lead with 13:23 to go in the first half. Samford cut the lead back to four at 13-9 with 10:24 left in the half after a three-pointer by Hill.

With MSU leading, 17-13, the Eagles scored the next five points in a row to push their lead to 22-13 with 5:31 left in the opening half.

The Eagles led by as much as 10 points at 25-15, but Samford went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to two at 25-23 with 2:27 to play in the first half after a three-pointer by London. MSU took a 28-23 lead into halftime.

Samford opened the second half with a 17-2 run to take a 40-30 lead with 12:21 to go after a layup by Hill. The Bulldogs pushed the lead out to 13 at 52-39 with 8:37 to go after a jumper by Munday.

Samford led by as much as 16 points in the second half at 61-45 with 2:04 to go after a layup by Towns. Samford came away with the 61-49 win.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 19, when the Bulldogs play at Eastern Kentucky. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. Eastern start from Richmond, Ky.