Women's Basketball Southern Conference

Samford Falls at Mississippi State, 80-41

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Mississippi State women’s basketball team shot 63.3 percent from the floor, while holding Samford to just 35.6 percent as MSU defeated Samford, 80-41 Monday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.

 

With the loss, Samford drops to 7-3 overall on the season. Mississippi State improves to 7-3 with the win.

 

“Mississippi State is as good a defensive team as I have seen since I’ve been the head coach here,” Samford head coach Mike Morris said. “Not only are they athletic, they are smart. They’re well-coached and they have four seniors who have seen it all. They really took away just about everything from us.”

 

Samford was led in scoring by junior guard Emily London with 12 points. Senior guard Monica Maxwell added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.

 

For Mississippi State, Alexis Rack led the way with 15 points. Armelle Lumanu had 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Diamber Johnson scored 11 points, while Mary Kathryn Govero added 10 points for MSU.

 

In the first half, after Samford grabbed an early 2-1 lead, Mississippi State went on a 21-2 run to take a 22-4 lead with 9:55 to go in the half. After Samford ended the run with a layup by London with 8:55 left in the half, MSU scored the next five points to push its lead to 27-6.

 

Samford cut the lead to 17 at 27-10 with 4:12 to go in the first half. Mississippi State, however, scored the final 13 points of the half to take a 40-10 lead into halftime.

 

In the second half, Mississippi State pushed its lead out to 40 at 58-18 with 15:00 to go in the game. Samford went on a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 34 at 62-28 with 11:47 to go after a three-pointer by London.

 

Mississippi State pushed its lead out to as much as 41 at 70-29 with 7:09 to play. Samford could get no closer than 34 the rest of the way as MSU came away with the 80-41 win.

 

Mississippi State out-rebounded Samford, 34-21 in the game. The loss is the worst for Samford since an 86-38 setback at LSU on Nov. 9, 2007.

 

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 19, when the Bulldogs play at Southern Conference foe Elon. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (CT) start from Elon, N.C.