Women's basketball falls to Elon in 60-59 heartbreaker
Joey Mullins
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Sports
The women's basketball team's second-half comeback fell just short as the Bulldogs dropped a 60-59 decision to Elon in a Southern Conference contest Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
"Elon is well-coached. They are a tough team. They are athletic, and they shot the ball well," head coach Mike Morris said. "They just came in and took the game, so give credit to them. We got down early, but we worked our way back and got the game back to where we wanted it, but just had some costly turnovers down the stretch. We have to be tougher and we have to take care of the ball better."
Junior nursing major Savannah Hill led Samford with 21 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore business major Paige Anderson scored 13 points, while senior exercise science major Megan Wilderotter added nine points for the Bulldogs. Freshman nursing major Hannah Dawson had seven rebounds to tie Hill for the team lead in that category.
As a team, Samford, playing without top scorer junior journalism and mass communication major Emily London, who missed the game with a knee injury, shot just 37.3 percent from the floor, including a 23.8-percent effort from three-point range. Elon shot 43.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc.
In the first half, Elon jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with 16:45 to go in the first half. Samford scored the next five points to take a 9-7 lead with 14:00 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Hill. With Samford leading, 11-9, Elon went on a 10-0 run to take a 19-11 lead with 10:51 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Lei Lei Hairston.
Samford answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one at 19-18 with 8:40 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Anderson. Elon pushed its lead back out to five at 25-20 with 3:25 left in the opening period.
Samford fought back to tie the game at 25-25 with 1:40 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by senior sociology major Monica Maxell. Elon's Hairston hit a three-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half to give the Phoenix a 28-25 lead heading into halftime.
"Elon is well-coached. They are a tough team. They are athletic, and they shot the ball well," head coach Mike Morris said. "They just came in and took the game, so give credit to them. We got down early, but we worked our way back and got the game back to where we wanted it, but just had some costly turnovers down the stretch. We have to be tougher and we have to take care of the ball better."
Junior nursing major Savannah Hill led Samford with 21 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore business major Paige Anderson scored 13 points, while senior exercise science major Megan Wilderotter added nine points for the Bulldogs. Freshman nursing major Hannah Dawson had seven rebounds to tie Hill for the team lead in that category.
As a team, Samford, playing without top scorer junior journalism and mass communication major Emily London, who missed the game with a knee injury, shot just 37.3 percent from the floor, including a 23.8-percent effort from three-point range. Elon shot 43.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc.
In the first half, Elon jumped out to an early 7-4 lead with 16:45 to go in the first half. Samford scored the next five points to take a 9-7 lead with 14:00 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Hill. With Samford leading, 11-9, Elon went on a 10-0 run to take a 19-11 lead with 10:51 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Lei Lei Hairston.
Samford answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one at 19-18 with 8:40 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Anderson. Elon pushed its lead back out to five at 25-20 with 3:25 left in the opening period.
Samford fought back to tie the game at 25-25 with 1:40 to go in the half after a pair of free throws by senior sociology major Monica Maxell. Elon's Hairston hit a three-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half to give the Phoenix a 28-25 lead heading into halftime.
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