Dec. 29, 2000

Box Score

MISSOULA, Mont. - The Washington State Cougars took a 76-49 victory over the Samford Bulldogs in the first game of the Lady Griz Holiday Classic at the University of Montana on Friday night.

Washington State (5-4) used a balanced attack led by 13 points and 10 rebounds from Whitney Martindale. The Cougars had six players score at least eight points. The story of the game was WSU's defense which held Samford to 31 percent shooting from the floor while the Cougars were successful on 44 percent of their shots. The shooting disparity carried over to the free throw line were WSU was 7-12 for 58 percent while Samford was 11-24 for 45 percent..

Samford (2-8) lost its fourth straight game for the first time since January 4, 1999. Rebounding continues to plague the Bulldogs who have been out-rebounded in nine of their ten games. The Cougars out-rebounded the Bulldogs 51-38 and 19-12 on the offensive glass.

Giovanni Price led all scorers in the game with 16 points. She was 5-11 from the floor and 6-14 from the free throw line. She also led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds. Natalie McLendon also had seven rebounds and seven points for the Bulldogs.

Samford led the game 24-22 with 6:50 to play in the first half. Washington State then went on a 16-3 run to close out the half and take a 38-27 lead into halftime. The Cougars opened the second half on a 10-3 run over the first three minutes to jump out to a 48-30 lead. Samford never recovered. The Bulldogs went six minutes of the second half without scoring as Washington State built a 66-38 lead with 6:37 to play.

Samford played eight players in the game including all four freshmen. The freshmen outscored the upperclassmen 32-17. The Bulldogs will return to action in the consolation game of the Lady Griz Holiday Classic on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.