Jan. 9, 2003

Box Score

Birmingham-- - Jacksonville State's Shanika Freeman scored 20 of her game-high 27 points in the second half as the Gamecocks over came a halftime deficit to defeat Samford, 68-60 Thursday night at Seibert Hall in the Atlantic Sun Conference opener for both teams. JSU improved to 6-5, 1-0 A-Sun while Samford fell to 4-8 and 0-1 in the A-Sun.

Freeman also grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded her sixth double-double of the year. Chelsee Insell scored 12 points to lead the Bulldogs. Giovanni Price and Che' Walker each added 11 points.

Freeman, who leads the A-Sun in scoring with 21.0 points per contest, was held to just seven points in the first half. Meanwhile, Insell hit three baskets from behind the arc to help boost the Bulldogs, which held a 34-26 lead at the break.

Samford stretched its halftime lead to 39-30 at the start of the second half on a lay-up by Walker. Samford made it 46-40 on a lay-up by LaBrena Friend with 10:44. But JSU started a 17-4 run. Freeman hit a pair of free throws to put JSU ahead of the Bulldog, 51-50, for the first time at the 7:16 mark. The Gamecocks extended their lead to 62-54 in two more Freeman free throws with 3:09 left. Insell cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 64-58 with a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left in the game. Freeman and Copeland combined for four free throws to seal the win for JSU.

Heathar Shepard hit three 3-pointers in the game and had 11 points and four steals.

Samford out-rebounded the Gamecocks 41 to 29, but JSU shot 44 percent from the floor, including a 54.5 percent effort in the second half. After shooting 46 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs shot only 31 percent in the second half to finish the game shooting 39 percent. Samford committed 24 turnovers in the game while JSU finished with 18 turnovers.

Samford returns top action Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Bulldogs continue A-Sun play against Georgia State. It will be Girls Inc. Appreciation Day at Seibert Hall.