Florida State 76, Samford 46
NCAA First Round
AUBURN, Ala. - The 14th-seeded Samford women's basketball team ended the most successful season in the history of the program with a 76-46 loss to the third-seeded and 15th-ranked Florida State Seminoles Sunday afternoon in the Auburn Arena.
"I would definitely like to congratulate Sue (Semrau) and her Florida State team," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought they played well, and we got beat by a good team. I am extremely proud of our team. I am extremely proud of our program, and all the things we have accomplished this year. I can't say enough about the character of our team."
This season, Samford earned its first-ever Southern Conference championship and its first bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs set a program record for wins, finishing with a record of 25-8. Florida State improves to 24-7 and will advance to take on the winner of Sunday's late game between Georgia and Middle Tennessee.
Samford senior guard Emily London scored 14 points in the loss to lead the Bulldogs. London leaves Samford as the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,760 career points, while fellow senior Savannah Hill finishes third in school history in scoring with 1,539 career points. Hill had four points, four rebounds and three assists in Sunday's loss.
"It has been a year to remember," London said. "Every game it felt like we were there for each other and you don't get that on many teams. We ended up winning the conference championship, which was a goal of ours for the last four years."
Junior guard Ruth Ketcham scored eight points for the Bulldogs. Fellow junior guard Paige Anderson added seven points.
Florida State was led by Cierra Bravard with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Courtney Ward and Chelsea Davis scored 13 points each, while Natasha Howard grabbed 10 rebounds for the Seminoles.
As a team, Florida State shot 47.3 percent overall and 45.5 percent from three-point range, compared to 26.9 percent overall and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc for Samford. The Seminoles out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 52-23.
Florida State jumped out to an early 5-1 lead with 18:09 to go in the first half. Samford came back to tie the score at 5-5 with 17:05 left in the first half after a jumper by London. FSU, however, went on a 10-2 run to take a 15-7 lead with 10:31 remaining in the first half.
The Seminoles pushed their lead out to as much as 13 in the first half at 28-15 with 2:19 to go before halftime. The Bulldogs cut the lead to nine at 28-19 with 1:31 to go in the first half after a tip-in by J'Quita Babineaux. With the Bulldogs trailing, 31-21, FSU's Ward hit a three-pointer with one second left to give the Seminoles a 34-21 lead heading into halftime.
In the second half, Florida State extended its lead to 18 at 39-21 with 16:56 to go in the game. After Samford cut the lead to 39-24 on a free throw by Anderson and a layup by Hill, FSU went on a 13-1 run to push its lead to 27 points at 52-25 with 10:03 left in the contest.
Florida State pushed its lead out to as much as 31 at 70-39, and the Seminoles came away with the 76-46 win.
UAB 59, Elon 50
WBI Second Round
ELON, N.C. - The Elon University women's basketball team struggled to find a rhythm on offense on Sunday afternoon, March 20, in the second round of the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational, as the Phoenix saw its season come to an end with a 59-50 setback to the UAB Blazers inside Alumni Gym.
"Today was a true challenge against a very good team and I am proud of the way we battled and stayed in the game for all 40 minutes," said Elon head coach Karen Barefoot. "There were a few possessions down the stretch where we broke down and did not take care of the ball. We competed against a solid team and showed fight all the way until the end.
This has been such a remarkable season for us and I am happy for our seniors who have helped turn this program around. We will continue our quest to make this program the best it can be."
Elon's 20 wins overall this season, including 11 at home inside Alumni Gym, are the most in the Division I era. This year's squad is only the fifth team in program history to finish the season with 20 or more victories, and is the first since the 198-82 squad finished with a 25-5 record. The team's 33 games this season ties the 1980-81 team for the most contests played in a single season in program history.
Today marked the final game for seniors Julie Taylor, Jess Luedtke and Gabby Oloye. Taylor played in all 127 games in her four-year career, tallying a total of 498 points, 114 assists, 181 rebounds and 82 makes from beyond the arc.
The Blazers (18-15) limited the Phoenix (20-13) to a 29.7 percent shooting performance from the field, including a 4-of-19 clip from beyond the arc. The UAB reserves found the basket all afternoon long, out-scoring the Elon bench, 34-4, in the win.
Ali Ford scored a game-high 19 points in the loss, as she finishes her sophomore season with 1,063 career points, just six points shy of passing Jamie McNeely for 17th all-time.
Kelsey Evans was the only other Elon player to reach double-digits, as the Raleigh, N.C. native finished with 13 points and seven boards.
Elon won the battle on the boards, 49-44, but the Blazers grabbed a total of 14 steals off 22 Elon turnovers, generating 17 points.
After falling behind four points, 26-22, at the half, Elon battled back to take its only lead of the game in the early stages of the second period after Ford knocked down a three-pointer with 19:27 to play to give the Phoenix a 27-26 lead.
But the Blazers went back up by six points with 17:47 to play, the Phoenix clawed back again to make it a one point game after an Aiesha Harper layup with 13:28 made it a 35-34 game. Harper finished with six points, three boards and a team-high three steals.
But UAB would not let Elon get over the hump down the stretch, as the Phoenix's attempt at a comeback over the final two minutes of the game came up short and the Blazers managed to escape with the win and move on to the semifinals of the WBI.
The second-seeded Blazers will face fifth-seeded Manhattan in the semifinals after the Jaspers knocked off top-seeded Wright State, 75-73, today in Dayton, Ohio.