Samford Women's Basketball Falls On Buzzer-Beater To Talladega College

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Talladega College's Tianna Jones hit a layup as time expired to lift the Tornado women's basketball team to a 50-49 win at Samford Thursday night in the Pete Hanna Center.

"You have to give Talladega all of the credit," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "They came in here and outplayed us tonight."

In a game that was tight throughout, Samford had taken a 49-48 lead on a layup by Brittany Stevens with just five seconds to go. After a timeout by Talladega, Jones drove to the basket, and her layup went through the net as time expired.

With the loss, Samford drops to 1-1 on the young season. Talladega College has a record of 5-0.

In the game, Samford was led by Ellen Riggins with 15 points and nine rebounds. Hannah Nichols scored nine points, while Shelby Campbell followed with eight points and six rebounds.

For Talladega College, Jamie Robinson scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Jones and Arielle George added 10 points each for the Tornadoes.

In the first half, with Samford leading, 4-3, Talladega went on a 13-4 run to take a 16-8 lead with 10:48 to go in the half after a jumper by Robinson. Samford answered with a 10-0 run of its own to take an 18-16 lead with 6:01 to go in the half after a three-pointer by Nichols.

With Samford leading, 21-18, Talladega scored seven of the last 10 points of the half to take a 25-24 advantage into halftime.

Samford scored the first five points of the second half to take a 29-25 lead with 18:44 to go after a pair of free throws by Riggins. The Bulldogs stretched their lead out to seven points at 37-30 with 14:31 to go following a layup by Riggins.

Talladega, however, scored the next eight points to take a 38-37 lead with 12:45 left after a layup by Robinson. Samford scored the next four points to take a 41-38 lead with 8:36 to go after two free throws by Riggins. The lead went back and forth for the remainder of the game, with Jones' layup at the buzzer giving the Tornadoes the 50-49 win.

Samford will return to action on Monday, Nov. 18, when the Bulldogs play at North Florida. The game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. (CT) start form Jacksonville, Fla. The contest can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.


Box Score

COURTESY SAMFORD UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS