Feb. 23, 2006

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Thursday, February 23, 2006)

"All good things must eventually come to an end," - English proverb

That was the case for the Redhawks women's basketball team as they saw their school record 12-game winning streak at the Division I level snapped by the Samford Bulldogs 57-53 in the Show Me Center Thursday evening. The loss also snapped the nation's seventh-longest active winning-streak.

In a game that featured eight lead changes and nine ties it was the depth of the Samford (19-7, 14-5 OVC) bench and their ability to make key baskets that separated the two Ohio Valley Conference powers.

The Bulldogs bench outscored the usually efficient Redhawks (18-8, 15-4 OVC) bench 26-3 in large part to Bulldog reserve Veronica Pike's team-high 17 points.

The Redhawks held a 38-37 lead with 9:21 remaining in the game when a Taryn Towns three-pointer at the 8:34 mark gave the Bulldogs the lead for good despite a late Redhawk rally.

After a Towns lay-up with the shot-clock winding down put the Bulldogs up by four, 50-46, Natalie Purcell (Auckland, New Zealand/Hutchinson CC) nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 50-49 with 1:27 left.

Pike answered with another Bulldog lay-up to put the Bulldogs up by three. Tatiana Conceicao (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Western Nebraska CC) made two free throws to again cut the lead to one with :45 seconds left but the Bulldogs answered again as Karmen Smith nailed a three-pointer to put the game out of reach with :15 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs shot a scorching 58-percent in the second half and limited the Redhawks to 44-percent including 37-percent for the game.

Over half of the Redhawks 54 field goal attempts came from beyond the three-point arc as they attempted 28 but only made six as they shot 21-percent from beyond the arc.

In the first half the Redhawks held a seven-point advantage, their largest lead of the game, 19-12. However the Bulldogs went on a 10-3 run to close out the first half as both teams went into the lockerooms tied at 22.

The Bulldogs took advantage of the Redhawks weak interior defense due to Conceicao's early foul trouble as they outscored the Redhawks 24-18 in the paint.

Despite drawing her fourth foul with 12 minutes remaining Conceicao scored a game-high 24 points on 9-14 shooting. Conceicao scored 16 of the Redhawks 22 points in the first half.

Simone Jackson (Kingston, Jamaica/Southeastern Illinois CC) was the only other Redhawk in double-figures as she finished with 15 points on 6-11 shooting. She also added a team-high four assists.

Pike, who came in averaging 5.1 ppg, scored her 17 points on 6-7 shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds.

Towns finished with 14 points and Alex Munday recorded a game-high seven rebounds.

The Redhawks need a win against Jacksonville State on Saturday to win a share of the OVC regular season title with Tennessee Tech. Tip-off for that game is 5:00 p.m. as the Redhawks will nonor their six seniors immediately after the game.