Birmingham, Ala.- The UNCG women's basketball team fell to 0-8 in Southern Conference action with a 49-80 loss on the road at Samford Thursday night. The Spartans move to 8-15 overall while Samford improves to 15-8 and 6-2 with its fifth-straight league win. Sophomore guard Keli Foster (Hampton, Va./Bethel) led all scorers with a 19-point performance shattering her previous best of 11 points.

Foster and Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) each had four points in the first quarter as the Spartans trailed Samford 14-11 after the first ten minutes of play. UNCG went into halftime with its largest deficit thus far, ten points, when Lydia McGee made a layup with six seconds left in the half. Foster had eight points in the second quarter to lead all scorers with 12 points at the break. UNCG shot 35.7 percent from the field and had 19 rebounds while Samford averaged 43.6 percent and grabbed 21 boards.

Samford shot 59.3 percent in the second half and put the game away in the third when they outscored UNCG 24-9. The Spartans were able to cut the deficit to 24 with 3:47 to go in regulation after a free throw by Foster but Samford held on for the 31-point win to secure the regular seasons sweep over the Spartans for the second consecutive year.

Mason was the only other Spartan to score in double figures as the Bulldogs held her 11 points, her fewest all season. Samford had four players in double figures with Kassidy Blevins leading the team with 17 points. Brittany Stevens had the only double-double of the game with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

UNCG falls to 4-13 all-time against Samford and 2-9 in the last five seasons. The Spartans are now 2-6 on the road in the series.

UNCG returns to action Saturday, February 6, when the Spartans travel to SoCon leader Mercer (16-6, 6-1 SoCon) at 2 p.m. in Macon, Ga. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN3/WatchESPN and live stats will be provided at UNCGSpartans.com.

-UNCG-