March 1, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Samford women's basketball team will take on the top-seeded Southeast Missouri Redhawks in the semifinals of the 2007 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Friday at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

Samford, the fourth seed in the tournament is currently 18-12 overall on the season. The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals with a 63-60 win over fifth-seeded Tennessee Tech Tuesday night at Seibert Hall.

SEMO enters the game with a record of 22-7 on the season. The Redhawks took on eighth-seeded Austin Peay in the first round, with SEMO winning by a score of 58-54 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Samford and Southeast Missouri are meeting for the 11th time with SEMO holding an 8-2 advantage in the series. This season, SEMO swept the season series from Samford. SEMO won, 70-66 in overtime on Dec. 19 in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and by a score of 66-58 on Feb. 22 in Birmingham.

Samford is led in scoring by Alex Munday, averaging 14.0 points per game, and Veronica Pike, scoring 10.8 points per game. Pike is the team-leader in rebounding, pulling down 5.1 rebounds per game, and Munday is averaging 4.6 boards per contest. Taryn Towns leads the team in assists, dishing out 2.5 assists per game.

This marks the second year in a row that Samford has reached the OVC semifinals. Last season, the Bulldogs took on Southeast Missouri, falling to the eventual tournament champions by a score of 59-52

Samford has a record of 4-5 all-time in the postseason. The Bulldogs were 2-3 in the conference tournament while they were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, and they have posted a record of 2-2 so far in the OVC Tournament.

Friday's game is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. tip-off. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1 or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu. The game can also be viewed on the internet via live streaming at www.ovcsports.tv.