Dec. 31, 2004

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Samford University women's basketball team hit just 25.8 percent of its shots as the Bulldogs fell, 63-46, to Western Michigan on the final day of the UTSA/Wells Fargo New Year's Classic Friday afternoon.

Samford (7-4) was led by LaBrena Friend with nine points. Veronica Pike, Andrea Ward and Taryn Towns scored six points each. Pike led the team in rebounding with seven.

For Western Michigan (3-8), Kelly Koerber scored 18 points, while Carrie Moore scored 10 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for the Broncos. Brittany Tyson also scored 12 points for Western Michigan.

Western Michigan scored the first five points of the game to jump out to a 5-0 lead early. Samford got on the board when Cora Beth Smith hit a jumper with 16:34 to go in the half to make the score 5-2. Western Michigan then scored the next five points to push its lead to 10-2 with 11:55 remaining in the half.

With Samford trailing, 15-8, the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to take a 16-15 lead with 3:20 to go in the opening period on a jumper by Friend. With Samford leading, 18-17 late in the half, WMU went on an 8-0 run to take the lead back at 25-18 with 12.8 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Tyson. The Broncos took a 27-19 lead over Samford into halftime.

WMU pushed its lead to 10 points early in the second half, at 29-19, and 31-21. Samford fought back to cut the lead to four at 40-36 with 10:28 to go in the game on a three-pointer by MaKenzie Spruiell. However, WMU went on an 11-2 run to increase its lead to 51-38 with 6:23 left in the contest. Samford could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, and Western Michigan came away with the 63-46 win.

Samford will begin play in the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday, January 4, when the Bulldogs play at Jacksonville State. The game is set for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off from Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Ala. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samfordsports.com.