BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford's Emily London scored 26 points and UNCG shot just 18.2 percent in the first half to fall behind big as the Bulldogs dropped the Spartans on Tuesday, 66-46 in a contest that was delayed a day by snow and ice in the Birmingham area.
Kendra Smith scored a team-best 11 points for UNCG (8-7, 5-2 Southern Conference), while Monique Floyd and Dayshaun Richbow had seven points each. Floyd led the Spartans with six rebounds.
London just missed a double-double with eight rebounds, while Savannah Hill had a solid all-around game with six points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Paige Anderson and Shelby Campbell had eight points each for the Bulldogs (12-4, 5-2), who entered the contest ranked No. 22 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. With the win, Samford moved into a tie for first with UNCG in the SoCon standings.
UNCG got off to a horrible start and was never able to recover. The Spartans went just 6-for-33 from the floor in the opening period, including a field goal drought of nearly 10 minutes that saw Samford open up a 26-9 lead.
The Spartans held a 5-4 lead on a 3-pointer from Leigh and a Smith jumper with 17:11 left in the first, but the Bulldogs answered with a 16-0 run to take command. UNCG didn't get another field goal until Richbow's jumper with 7:09 left in the opening frame, and UNCG would never its deficit back into single digits.
UNCG trailed by as many as 20 in the second half as Samford extended a 13-point halftime lead to 48-28 with 10:06 to play. Smith then heated up from the field, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions as the Spartans got it back to 15.
Floyd dropped in a layup off a Richbow steal before London briefly halted the run with one of her five 3-pointers. Floyd answered with a jumper on the other end and a pair of Richbow layups brought UNCG back to within 10 at 51-41.
Hill and Nneka Awuruonye traded buckets to keep it a 10-point game, but London was about to take over, sandwiching a pair of layups around a Richbow free throw before hitting another 3. A Breonna Patterson steal and layup made it 60-46, but London and Campbell hit back-to-back 3s to put the Bulldogs back up by 20.
UNCG (47.8 percent) outshot Samford (44.4 percent) in the second half, but the Bulldogs knocked down six 3-pointers in the second half to just one for the Spartans.
Samford held a 37-34 edge on the boards. UNCG's eight offensive rebounds were twice as many as Samford's, but the Spartans didn't get a rebound on the offensive end in the second half.
The loss was UNCG's second straight after a six-game winning streak.
Tuesday's contest was originally scheduled for Monday, but a wintry storm in the Birmingham area forced the game back a day.
NOTES: Redshirt freshman Natalie Headley made her collegiate debut Tuesday. After a knee injury cost her all of last season and a shoulder injury kept her out of UNCG's first nine games this year, she got her first career action when she checked in with 1:50 left against Samford.
AGATE
SAMFORD 66, UNCG 46
UNCG (8-7, 5-2 SoCon)
Kendra Smith 5-12 0-0 11; Monique Floyd 3-7 1-3 7; Dayshaun Richbow 3-8 1-2 7; Amanda Leigh 2-8 0-0 6; Sidnei Harmon 2-4 1-1 5; Nneka Awuruonye 1-1 0-0 2; Sarah Folwell 0-5 2-2 2; Breonna Patterson 1-5 0-0 2; Jazz Weaver 0-2 2-2 2; Janae' Stevenson 0-2 2-2 2; Natalie Headley 0-0 0-0 0; Agneta Morkunaite 0-0 0-0 0; Brey Dorsett 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-56 9-12 46.
SAMFORD (12-4, 5-2 SoCon)
LONDON, Emily 9-13 3-3 26; ANDERSON, Paige 3-8 0-0 8; CAMPBELL, Shelby 3-6 0-0 8; DAWSON, Hannah 2-8 2-2 7; HILL, Savannah 3-9 0-0 6; KETCHAM, Ruth 3-5 0-0 6; MARTIN, Jazmine 1-4 0-0 3; JACK, Brittany 1-1 0-0 2; ROBINSON, Christy 0-0 0-0 0; POWERS, Jazmine 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 5-5 66.
UNCG.......................... 21 25 - 46
Samford....................... 34 32 - 66
3-point goals--UNCG 3-18 (Amanda Leigh 2-6; Kendra Smith 1-4; Sarah Folwell 0-4; Breonna Patterson 0-2; Jazz Weaver 0-1; Brey Dorsett 0-1), Samford 11-20 (LONDON, Emily 5-8; CAMPBELL, Shelby 2-2; ANDERSON, Paige 2-4; DAWSON, Hannah 1-3; MARTIN, Jazmine 1-3). Fouled out--UNCG-None, Samford-None. Rebounds--UNCG 34 (Monique Floyd 6), Samford 37 (LONDON, Emily 8). Assists--UNCG 8 (Monique Floyd 4), Samford 22 (HILL, Savannah 8). Total fouls--UNCG 13, Samford 13. Technical fouls--UNCG-None, Samford-None. A-278
- UNCG -
