Dec. 27, 2007

Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State's Jacinta Monroe hit a put-back off a missed layup at the buzzer to lift the Seminole women's basketball team past Samford, 52-51, Thursday night at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

The loss drops Samford's record to 7-5, while FSU improves to 9-3 on the season.

"I am extremely proud of our team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought we played tough against a very good ACC team. Even when they made their run in the second half, I thought we bounced back and made some tough shots. It's a tough one to lose, but hopefully our team will get better from it."

Samford was led by Monica Maxwell with 14 points and eight rebounds. Savannah Hill scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Emily London had 11 points and six rebounds. Samford shot 38.5 percent from the floor to FSU's 32.3 percent. The Bulldogs made just three of eight free throw attempts in the game.

Monroe led FSU with 17 points and nine rebounds. Christian Hunnicutt scored 12 points and Shante Williams added 10 points for the Seminoles.

Samford jumped out to an early 11-4 lead with 16:53 to go in the first half following a three-pointer by Maxwell. Samford pushed its lead to 12 at 20-8 with 12:03 left in the opening half after a layup by Alex Munday.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 15 at 27-12 with 2:20 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Maxwell. Samford took a 29-16 lead into halftime. In the first half, Samford shot 48.0 percent from the floor, including 45.5 percent from three-point range. FSU shot just 19.4 percent in the first half.

In the second half, Samford pushed its lead to 14 early in the half at 34-20. With the Bulldogs leading, 36-22, FSU went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to six at 38-32 with 12:03 to go.

Samford's MaKenzie Spruiell hit a three-pointer to end the run and give Samford a 41-32 lead, but FSU answered with another 11-0 run to take a 43-41 lead with 5:37 to go in the game. A three-pointer by Maxwell and a pair of free throws by London gave Samford a 46-43 lead with 4:01 to play in the game.

After FSU cut the lead to one at 46-45, Maxwell hit another three to give Samford a four-point lead at 49-45 with 2:20 to play in the game. Hunnicutt answered with a three-pointer of her own to cut the lead back to one at 49-48 with 2:00 to go.

Munday hit a layup with 1:19 to play to give Samford a 51-48 lead, but Monroe answered with a layup with 1:05 to play to cut the lead back to one at 51-50.

Samford will return to action on Jan. 2, when the Bulldogs play host to Lipscomb in the Bulldogs' final non-conference game of the season. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.