Jan. 20, 2005

Box Score

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State's Shelly Johnson posted a triple-double scoring 16 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and collecting 11 blocks as the Lady Eagles defeated the Samford women's basketball team, 60-53, in double overtime Thursday night at Ellis T. Johnson Arena.

Samford (9-7, 2-3 OVC) was led by Sarah Clement with 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Tish Pilkerton scored 13 points and Veronica Pike added eight for the Bulldogs.

Behind Shelly Johnson for Morehead State (3-13, 1-4 OVC), TaNeisha Johnson scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

In the first overtime, Samford fell behind 51-47, but the Bulldogs scored six-straight points to take a 53-51 lead with 2:03 to play. A jumper by Shelly Johnson with 1:40 to go in the first overtime sent the game into double overtime tied at 53-53. Morehead State outscored Samford, 7-0, in the final overtime period to claim the victory.

Morehead State led most of the first half. The Lady Eagles jumped out to an early five-point lead at 9-4 with 12:45 to go in the first half. MSU's largest lead of the half was six points at 14-8 at the 8:52 mark in the first half. Samford fought back to cut the lead to one at 15-16 with 4:59 to go in the opening period on a three-pointer by Pilkerton. After MSU pushed its lead back to three at 18-15, a free throw by Taryn Towns and a basket by Clement sent the teams to halftime tied at 18-18.

In the second half, Samford jumped out to a 25-20 lead on a jumper by Pilkerton with 16:15 left in regulation. MSU then went on a 7-0 run to take a 27-25 lead. The Lady Eagles pushed their lead to six at 36-30 with just under 10:00 to go in the second half. Samford slowly chipped away at the MSU lead, and the Bulldogs took a brief lead at 47-45 with 41.7 seconds left on a basket by Cora Beth Smith, but Morehead's Holly Williams hit a layup with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, January 22, when the Bulldogs play at Eastern Kentucky. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4:30 p.m. Central and 5:30 p.m. Eastern. The game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samfordsports.com.