Jan. 10, 2008

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford freshman guard Emily London scored 19 points to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 77-57 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Tennessee State Thursday night at the Pete Hanna Center.

"I'm really pleased with the way our girls played," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "The difference in the game was our defensive mentality. It was a good win for our team tonight."

Behind London for Samford (11-5, 4-2 OVC), Monica Maxwell tied a career high with 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor. Savannah Hill scored 12 points and Chika Okoli added 11 for the Bulldogs. Samford shot 52.7 percent for the game, while TSU hit 50 percent of its shots

Tennessee State (7-8, 4-2 OVC) was led by Nikki Rumph with 20 points. Kendra Appling scored 17 points and Obiageli Okafor added 11 points for the Lady Tigers.

Samford jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on a layup and a three-pointer by London. The Bulldogs pushed the lead out to seven at 11-4 with 11:49 to play in the first half after a layup by Alex Munday.

With Samford leading, 14-8, TSU went on a 9-0 run to take a 17-14 lead with 5:47 to play in the half after a jumper by Appling. Samford scored the next five points in a row to take the lead back at 19-17 with 3:44 to go in the opening period after a jumper by London. Samford took a 25-21 lead into halftime.

Samford pushed its lead out to 14 at 42-28 with 14:16 to play in the game after a three-pointer by Okoli. TSU cut the lead back to 10 at 44-34 with 10:50 to play in the game.

Samford then went on a 7-2 run to take a 51-36 lead with 9:11 to play after a three-pointer by Hill. TSU cut the lead back to nine at 57-48, but Samford answered with a 12-2 run to take a 19-point lead at 69-50 with 3:06 to play following a layup by Okoli.

Samford pushed its lead out to as much as 25 at 77-52, and the Bulldogs came away with the 77-57 win.

Samford will return to action on Saturday when the Bulldogs play host to Tennessee Tech at 4 p.m. at the Pete Hanna Center.