Feb. 2, 2008

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford women's basketball team took an 86-80 win over Ohio Valley Conference leader Eastern Illinois in a double-overtime thriller Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center.

"I think the general theme of our team this year has been our togetherness, our unselfishness and our toughness," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "And, I think that showed up tonight in a 50-minute game."

Samford (17-6, 10-3 OVC) was led by Monica Maxwell with a career-high 21 points. Savannah Hill scored 19 points, Emily London scored 16 points, Alex Munday had 11 points and Taryn Towns added 10 points.

As a team, Samford made 26-of-32 free throws. Towns made 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, with all six of her free throws coming in the second overtime to help seal the win.

For Eastern Illinois (12-10, 11-3 OVC), Rachel Galligan had 23 points and 11 rebounds. Ashley Thomas scored 19 points, Ellen Canale scored 16 points and Megan Edwards added 11 points for the Panthers.

Eastern Illinois led the entire first half. The Panthers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead with 17:38 to play in the first half. EIU pushed the lead out to nine at 17-8 with 13:30 left in the half after a three-pointer by Edwards.

Samford went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to two at 17-15 with 10:41 to go in the first half after a jumper by Munday. EIU answered with an 8-0 run of its own to push the lead out to 10 at 25-15 with 8:36 to go in the half.

Taryn Towns hit six key free throws in the second overtime to help seal Samford's 86-80 double-overtime win over Eastern Illinois.

Samford fought back to cut the lead to four at 29-25 with 3:04 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Maxwell. EIU led, 32-28 at halftime.

Samford tied the score at 33-33 with 17:31 to go in the game following a three-pointer by Hill. Samford took its first lead of the game at 39-37 on a layup by Hill with 13:23 to go in the game.

Samford pushed its lead to as much as nine points at 55-46 and at 57-48. EIU, however, answered with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to one at 57-56 with 5:40 to play after a three-point play by Canale.

The teams went back and forth for the rest of the second half. With EIU leading, 63-61, Chika Okoli's layup tied the score at 63-63 with 1:44 to go. Neither team could score for the rest of regulation and the teams headed to overtime.

The teams went back and forth throughout the first overtime. With Samford leading, 63-60, EIU's Thomas hit a three-pointer with two seconds left to force the second overtime.

In the second overtime period, EIU grabbed an early four-point lead at 77-73 with 3:37 to play. Samford answered with a 9-0 run to take an 82-77 lead with 20 seconds to go after a pair of free throws by Towns.

A three-pointer by EIU's Jessica Huffman cut the lead to 82-80 with 13 seconds left. Towns then made two free throws and Okoli made two more to seal the 86-80 win.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 9, when the Bulldogs play at Austin Peay. The game is scheduled for a 5:15 p.m. start.