Hill's Career-High Performance Leads Women's Basketball Past UT Martin, 56-41 :: Hill scored a career-high 23 points in the win

Jan. 24, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford freshman Savannah Hill scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Bulldog women's basketball team to a 56-41 Ohio Valley Conference victory over UT Martin Thursday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.

"Savannah is really a complete player, she has the ability to make the three and to score the ball around the goal," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "She had a huge game for us tonight.

"I thought the tone for the game was set with our team defense," Morris said. "Other than a stretch in the second half where Crystal Fuller went off, we played as well defensively as we have played in the last few games."

Hill made 8-of-12 shots from the field in the game, including a 3-for-4 performance from three-point range. Emily London scored 13 points for Samford (14-6, 7-3 OVC), while Alex Munday added 10 points. Taryn Towns had five points, five rebounds and six assists for the Bulldogs.

UT Martin (4-16, 1-9 OVC) was led by Crystal Fuller with 25 points and eight rebounds.

Samford jumped out to an early 12-2 lead with 12:31 to play in the first half after a jumper by Munday. The Bulldogs pushed their lead out to 13 at 22-9 with 3:55 to play in the opening period after a layup by Hill.

UT Martin scored the next five points in a row to cut the lead to eight at 22-14 with 2:07 to go in the half. Samford took a 25-16 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Samford extended its lead to 11 at 30-19 with 17:46 to go after a three-pointer by London. UTM, however, cut the lead to six at 30-24 and 32-26, but Samford then went on a 12-0 run to push its lead to 18 at 44-26 with 8:49 to go after a three-pointer by MaKenzie Spruiell.

Samford pushed its lead out to 21 at 49-28 with 8:26 to go after a jumper by Munday. UTM could get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way as Samford came away with the 56-41 win.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 26, when the Bulldogs play host to Austin Peay. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.