STATESBORO, GA – Four Bulldogs scored in double figures to help lead Samford past Georgia Southern Monday night (Feb. 8) in Hanner Fieldhouse. Monica Maxwell scored a game-high 18 points with five three-pointers, leading the Bulldogs to a 66-47 victory. Georgia Southern dropped to 13-11 on the season and 8-7 in Southern Conference play, while Samford improved to 18-7, 12-4.
While both teams committed a plethora of turnovers, Samford took advantage of the miscues, converting 15 GS errors for 23 points – the Lady Eagles converted for 10. Hitting only two three-pointers, Georgia Southern went cold from beyond the three-point arc, while Samford hit 46 percent of its three-point attempts, connecting on 10. For the game, the Bulldogs shot 59 percent from the floor to the Lady Eagles’ 33 percent.
A Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) bucket as time expired on the shot clock brought Georgia Southern to within one point in the opening frame, 4-3, at 16:19 and J'Lisia Ogburn (Dubin, Ga.) tied the game at 5-all with a jumper within a minute later. But Paige Anderson lobbed a three-pointer that hit the backboard and bounced in as time expired for an 8-5 Samford lead. GS took its first lead on a successful Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) trip to the charity stripe, but a couple lead changes put the Bulldogs back in front, 15-14 off an Alex Crow field goal.
Back-to-back layups from Janay Wilson (Warner Robins, Ga.) pushed Georgia Southern ahead for the third time, 20-18, but a 12-2 Bulldog run returned the advantage back to Samford with 1:51 to play in the first. Two free throw trips from Krista Tate (Atlanta, GA.) and Ogburn cut the lead to five points, 30-25, but an Anderson trey left Samford with a 10-point halftime lead, 35-25.
Monica Maxwell hit consecutive three-pointers to open the second half and expand Samford’s lead to 43-27. Seniors Whitney and Ogburn hit back-to-back field goals for Georgia Southern following to pit the score, 43-21, at 15:38. But those would be the only GS buckets from the floor for the next five minutes as Samford capitalized on the scoreless drought for a 15-1 run before Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) hit a trey to snap the streak, 60-35. Georgia Southern closed out the game adding 12 points, but could not overcome an early deficit as it fell, 66-47.
Georgia Southern will hit the road for the next two match-ups, traveling first to College of Charleston, Saturday, Feb. 13. Tip inside the Carolina First Arena is slated for 2:00 p.m.
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