Jan. 10, 2003

Samford continues conferece play Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs host Georgia State at 2 p.m. at Seibert Hall. It will be Girls Inc. Appreciation Day sponsored by Morgan Stanley and The Powell Group. The Bulldogs(4-8, 0-1 A-Sun and Lady Panthers(5-7, 0-1 A-Sun) both dropped their conference openers Thursday night.

Jacksonville State's Shanika Freeman scored 20 of her game-high 27 points in the second half as the Gamecocks overcame a halftime deficit to defeat Samford, 68-60,in the Atlantic Sun Conference opener for both teams. Freeman also grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded her sixth double-double of the year. Chelsee Insell scored 12 points to lead the Bulldogs. Giovanni Price and Che' Walker each added 11 points. Samford held the A-Sun's No. 1 scoring offense to 68 points, but the Bulldogs committed 24 turnovers.

The Lady Panthers dropped their A-Sun conference opener at Belmont, 54-51, Thursday night. Belmont's Chasity Campbell converted a 3-point play with 59 seconds left to give the Bruins the win. Georgia State committed 26 turnovers in the game despite holding a 46-30 rebounding advantage. Angelina Miller led Georgia State with 18 points against Belmont. Yvette Tisdale recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Miller leads the team averaging 15 points per game and ranks in the top five in the conference in scoring.

Samford and Georgia State meet for the 11th time with the Lady Panthers leading the series 9-1. The Lady Panthers swept last season's series winning, 72-52, in Birmingham and 79-45 in Atlanta. Samford's only win the series came during the 1999-2000 when the Bulldogs defeated the Lady Panthers, 68-65, in Atlanta.

The Bulldogs continue conference play next Saturday when they host Belmont at 3:30 p.m. in Seibert Hall in the second game of a doubleheader.