Feb. 27, 2007

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Alex Munday scored 20 points and made key free throws down the stretch to lead the Samford women's basketball team to a 63-60 win over Tennessee Tech in the first round of the 2007 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Tuesday night at Seibert Hall.

With the win, Samford (18-12) advances to the OVC semifinals. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs will take on top-seeded Southeast Missouri Friday at 12:00 p.m. at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee Tech ends its season with a 12-18 record.

The game was the final game in the 45-year old Seibert Hall. Next season, Samford will play in the new Pete Hanna Arena.

"I thought we played a very good first half, particularly defensively," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "But, Tennessee Tech is a good team. They are used to winning championships, they were not going to just die. When they took the lead, our girls bowed up. I was so pleased with the way we responded."

Behind Munday for Samford, Veronica Pike scored 11 points, and Chelsee Insell and Monica Maxwell added eight points each.

For Tennessee Tech, Kendall Cavin and Blair Bowens scored 19 points each.

Samford jumped out to an early 8-0 lead with 16:41 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Munday. Samford pushed its lead out to nine at 11-2 with 12:45 to go following a three-pointer by Insell.

After Tennessee Tech cut the lead to four at 13-9, Samford went on an 11-2 run to push its lead to 13 at 24-11 with 2:42 to go after a three-pointer by Maxwell. Samford took a 29-15 lead into halftime.

Tennessee Tech opened the second half with a 12-2 run to cut the Samford lead to four at 31-27 with 16:28 to go after a three-pointer by Cara Reed. The Golden Eagles took the lead at 39-37 with 12:44 to go after a layup by Blair Bowens.

Tech took a four-point lead at 49-45 with 6:13 to go after a three-pointer by Cavin. After Samford fought back to tie the score at 51-51, the Bulldogs retook the lead at 54-51 with 3:55 to go after a three-pointer by Munday.

Tech then scored the next four points to take a 55-54 lead with 2:40 to go in the game. Four-straight Samford free throws, two by Munday and two by Maxwell gave Samford the lead back at 58-55 with 1:38 to play. Samford pushed its lead out to four at 61-57 with 19 seconds to go after a pair of free throws by Munday.

After Tennessee Tech cut the lead to one at 61-60, Megan Wilderotter hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to put the game away.

For the game, Samford shot 38.6 percent to Tennessee Tech's 45.8 percent. The Bulldogs shot 36.4 percent from three-point range and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Friday's game against Southeast Missouri can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu.