Jan. 30, 2003

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Florida Atlantic's Tamica Pierce recorded a double-double with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds and the Lady Owls outscored Samford, 43-18 in the second half as FAU rallied to defeat the Bulldogs, 60-46, in the Atlantic Sun Women's basketball action at Seibert Hall Thursday night. FAU improved to 7-10 and 5-1 in the conference while Samford fell to 4-13 and 0-6 in the A-Sun.

Chelsee Insell scored a career-high 17 points for Samford. Shontavia Williams and Angie Rodgers each scored 10 points for the Lady Owls. Samford shot a woeful 29 percent from the field and 42 percent from the free-throw line. FAU shot 48 percent from the field in the second half to finish the game shooting 37 percent. The Lady Owls forced 14 Samford turnovers in the second half while committing only five.

FAU overcame a 28-17 halftime deficit to cut the lead to 28-27 with 16:47 remaining, but LaBrena Friend made a lay-up and Lindsey Harris nailed a 3-pointer to put Samford back ahead 33-27 with 14:19 left. Samford extended its lead to 40-33 on a lay-up by Noot Pittman with 7:33 left.

Angie Rodgers then scored four consecutive points to cap a 7-0 FAU run tying the game 40-40 with 5:57 remaining. The Lady Owls closed out the game on a 20-6 run to make for the final score.

Samford capitalized on 15 first-half FAU turnovers to stake a 28-17 halftime lead. Insell scored 12 of her career-high 17 points in the first half. Samford shot 33 percent in the first half while FAU only shot 27 percent.

Insell's 3-pointer with 12:25 remaining before halftime gave the Bulldogs an 11-3 lead. After FAU cut its deficit to 16-12 with 6:31 left in the first half. Insell scored six points during a 9-0 run to help the Bulldogs to their largest lead of the game, 25-12, with 2:38 left before halftime.

Noot Pittman scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds. Cora Beth Smith added six points for Samford.

Samford continues its home-stand Saturday when the Bulldogs host A-Sun South member UCF at 1 p.m. in Seibert Hall.