Posted by Joey Mullins on 2010-03-19

The Samford women's basketball team will travel to Springfield, Mo., to take on the Missouri State Lady Bears Sunday (March 21) at 2 p.m. in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

Samford enters the game with a record of 23-10. The Bulldogs are coming off a thrilling 66-65 win over Ole Miss Thursday (March 18) at the Pete Hanna Center.

Missouri State is currently 21-10. The Lady Bears advanced to Sunday's second-round game with a 75-53 win over Oral Roberts Friday evening. Formerly known as Southwest Missouri State University, the team made the NCAA Final Four in 2001 behind All-America player Jackie Stiles and legendary coach Cheryl Burnett.

Sunday afternoon's game will be the first-ever meeting between Samford and Missouri State in women's basketball. The game will mark Samford's second game this season against a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Samford won at Evansville, 69-66, on Nov. 15.

Samford is led in scoring by junior guard Emily London, averaging 15.2 points per game. London, who was named first-team All-SoCon for the second year in a row, ranks third in the nation in free throw percentage (90.5%) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (47.0%). In Thursday's win over Ole Miss, London led Samford with 21 points.

Junior forward Savannah Hill leads the team in rebounding (5.3 rpg.) and assists (3.5 apg.). Hill, who also named to the All-SoCon team, ranks second on the team in scoring with an average of 13.5 points per game. Hill made the game-winning layup with five seconds left in the game Thursday night against Ole Miss. Hill scored 19 points in the game.

Senior guard Monica Maxwell ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.4 rpg.) and third in scoring (10.2 ppg.). Senior guard Megan Wilderotter is second on the squad in assists, dishing out 2.5 assists per game.  

Missouri State is led by Casey Garrison, averaging 19.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Jaleshia Roberson is scoring 14.4 points per game, while Christiana Shorter averages 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.

Sunday afternoon's game can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.  

Fans can also follow the game live on the internet via Live Stats at the link below.

Live Stats for Missouri State Game 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.