BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-The Samford women's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to earn a 71-46 exhibition win over the Auburn University at Montgomery Lady Senators Monday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.
"AUM is a well-coached team, they do a lot of things on the defensive end with the full-court press and I was really pleased with how our team handled that for the most part," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "As far as the exhibition goes, we did what we had to do. We played a lot of people and I think at times, played some good basketball."
Samford was led by Emily London with 14 points and Savannah Hill with 12 points and eight rebounds. Alex Crow and freshman Shelby Campbell scored nine points apiece. Freshman Brittany Jack contributed eight points, while Hannah Dawson added six points and four rebounds.
For AUM, Rachel Cunningham led the way with 11 points. Stephanie Torrence scored eight points, while Haley McIntyre added six points for the Lady Senators.
Samford jumped out to an early 11-2 lead with 16:20 to go in the first half after a layup by London. AUM fought back with a 7-0 run to cut the Samford lead to 11-9 with 14:19 to go after a free throw by Cunningham.
Samford then went on a 9-3 run to push its lead out to eight at 20-12 with 10:50 left in the opening half after a three-pointer by Ruth Ketcham. The Lady Senators fought back to cut the Samford lead to two at 22-20 with 8:14 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by McIntyre.
The Bulldogs, however, answered with a 14-0 run to push their lead out to 16 at 36-20 with 3:45 left in the half after a layup by Campbell. Samford took a 17-point lead into halftime at 42-25.
Samford opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take a 27-point lead at 52-25 with 17:14 left in the game after a layup by Crow. Samford pushed its lead out to 33 at 61-28 with 11:13 to go in the game after a jumper by Kylie Black.
After AUM cut the lead to 28 at 61-33, Samford went on an 8-2 run to push its lead out to 34 at 69-35 with 4:04 to go after a layup by Jack. AUM could get no closer than 24 the rest of the way as the Bulldogs came away with the 71-46 win.
Samford will open the 2010-11 regular-season on Monday, Nov. 15, when the Bulldogs play at Texas Tech. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, and it can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.