Kentucky 90, Samford 61

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Samford senior guard Paigen Andrerson scored a career-high 24 points, but it was not enough as the Bulldog women's basketball team fell at No. 8 Kentucky, 90-61, Wednesday evening at Memorial Coliseum.

The Bulldogs trailed, 55-28 at halftime, but held the Wildcats to just 35 points in the second half.

For the game, Anderson made 5-of-6 shots from the floor and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. Senior Ruth Ketcham scored 14 points and fellow senior  Jazmine Powers added 12 points for the Bulldogs.

Kentucky is the highest ranked team Samford has played since taking on fifth-ranked LSU on Nov. 9, 2007.

Kentucky was led by Samantha Drake with 18 points. Azia Bishop scored 13 points, while Keyla Snowden scored 12 points. Bria Goss and Kastine Evans added 11 points each, while Samarie Walker scored 10 points for the Wildcats.

In the first half Samford stayed close early, but with the Bulldogs trailing, 11-10, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run to push their lead out to 10 at 20-10 with 14:32 left in the opening period. After Samford cut the lead to six at 20-14, Kentucky went on a 16-2 run to take a 20-point lead at 36-16 with 9:05 left in the half.

Samford cut the Kentucky lead to 16 at 36-20 with 8:07 left in the half after a pair of free throws by Taylor Reece. With Kentucky leading, 43-26, the Wildcats closed the half with a 12-2 run to take a 55-28 lead into the intermission. 

In the second half, Kentucky pushed its lead out to 36 at 66-30 with 17:17 to go in the game. With Kentucky leading, 72-40, Samford went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 72-48 with 8:01 left in the game after a free throw by Ketcham.

Kentucky scored the next six point to push its lead back out to 30 at 78-48 with 6:41 left in the contest. Samford or then scored the next seven points to cut the lead to 23 points at 78-55 with 4:38 left after a three-pointer by Ketcham. Samford, however, could get no closer as Kentucky came away with the 90-61 win.

As a team, Samford made 42.9 percent of its shots from the floor and 35.3 percent of its three-pointers. Kentucky shot 54.7 percent overall and 25.0 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats outrebounded the Bulldogs, 34-20.

Samford will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 28, when the Bulldogs take on their second-straight SEC foe, playing at the University of Florida. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start from the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Georgia Southern 52, Jacksonville 46

STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind senior guard Samantha Williams' 18 points, the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles won their first home game of the season with a 52-46 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins. Williams responded to her second start of the season by tying her career high in points for the third time after shooting eight-for-11 from the field.

Georgia Southern (3-8) trailed for the last time with 7:36 to play in the first half. They led by as many as 12 points but had to hold on for their first win since November 26th against Jacksonville State after Jacksonville (1-10) outscored the Lady Eagles 20-14 over the final 13:50 of the second half.

Meredyth Frye joined Williams in double figures with 14 points, while  Ro-Ro Smith almost doubled her season total with eight points and tied for a team-best six rebounds. duplicated her efforts from Monday with six more points and five boards. On the other side three Briana Scott tallied double figures including 14 points from both Abril Peeples and Crystal Bell.

An early first half 9-0 run sparked by Janay Wilson who drove into the lane and hit a layup while getting fouled, handed Georgia Southern its largest lead in five games. Three Lady Eagles followed Wilson's made foul shot with jumpers to put the Lady Eagles up 9-4; however, Jacksonville tied the ballgame at 13-13 and took a two-point lead on an 8-2 run.

GSU entered halftime with a 23-22 lead after Williams, who tallied nine points in the first half, hit a three at the 7:14 mark and the two teams battled to a 7-7 tie over the final 5:57. Peeples recorded eight points to lead the Dolphins in the first period, while Bell tallied seven.

Frye powered a 13-2 run with six points, giving the Lady Eagles a 36-24 lead at the start of the second half. Jacksonville pulled within seven points at the 11:55 mark and trailed by just three points after Peeples nailed a jumper with 9:16 to play. Georgia Southern responded with six unanswered points to lead by nine with 5:03 to play.

The Lady Eagles return after the holiday break to host Southern Wesleyan at 7 p.m. on December 30th.

Connecticut 72, College of Charleston 24

CHARLESTON, S.C.- In front of a record crowd of 3,868 people the College of Charleston women's basketball team did not allow No. 2 Connecticut a point until the 15:36 mark of the first half, but fell 72-24 at TD Arena Wednesday Night.

The Cougars (2-8, 1-4) were led in scoring by freshman Jazz Green with eight points and junior Megan Fischer added seven points.

Although the Cougars struggled offensively, they held UConn (10-1, 1-0) to 44 percent shooting, forced 14 turnovers and allowed 27 first half points, the lowest total for the Huskies this season. UConn led 27-8 at halftime.

Connecticut kept pouring it on in the second half, scoring the first 18 points of the half before Fischer's 3-pointer cut the Huskies lead to 45-11 with 11:45 to go.

Connecticut Head Coach Geno Auriemma agreed to come to the College of Charleston in part to spread the popularity of women's basketball. The game brought 3,868 people to TD Arena, more than tripling the previous best attendance (1,014 Jan. 31, 2009 vs. Western Carolina) for a Cougars women's game.

Lots of Huskies blue could be seen in the arena, but there were also a few high school teams in their warm-up suits. Charleston played its part by honoring some of the region's best women's basketball players like Katrina McClain and Kalana Greene. The Cougars also honored the jerseys of Lisa Washington and Regina Brown Hall.

The game featured a couple of the giants of coaching in women's basketball with more than 1,300 wins between them. Charleston coach Nancy Wilson brought the Cougars to three AIAW national title games before the NCAA started offering its own titles for women sports, and the Cougars honored those teams before tip-off.

Up next the Cougars take a few days off for the holidays before traveling to New Orleans, La., to compete in the Tulane DoubleTree Classic Dec. 28-29.