Samford defeated Furman 68-59 in a Southern Conference women’s basketball game on Thursday night at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. The win marked Samford’s fourth consecutive victory and evened the season series between the two teams.
Francie Morris led Samford with a career-high 26 points, including 12 in the final quarter. Her performance was key to a late comeback that saw the Bulldogs outscore Furman 22-6 over the last five minutes of play. “Alyssa Ervin’s 3-pointer with 5:37 remaining in the game put Furman ahead 53-47, but it was all Samford after that as the Bulldogs needed less than two minutes of clock to fashion a 9-0 run and take for good, 55-53, on Morris’ 3-pointer from the corner at the 3:56 mark,” according to the release.
Briana Rivera added 15 points and Sierra Godbolt contributed 13 for Samford. The team shot 42 percent from the field overall and converted on 20-of-24 free throw attempts, gaining a significant advantage at the line compared to Furman’s 10-of-17.
Furman was led by Clare Coyle with 21 points. Freshman Sophia Pearl, making her first start after Lauren Bailey suffered a season-ending injury, scored a season-high 14 points and collected six rebounds. Despite holding a rebounding edge of eight (35-27), Furman committed 23 turnovers which resulted in Samford scoring twenty points off those mistakes.
Furman’s record falls to 16-11 overall and they have now lost three straight home games. The Paladins will host Mercer this Saturday at Timmons Arena.
