Box Score The Alabama State women's basketball team had a tough night shooting the ball as the team shot just 31 percent from the field and Samford pulled away down the stretch in a 54-35 defeat at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Thursday night in a nonconference game. 
 
Alabama State (1-7) had just one player reach double digits in scoring (Shamyiah Smith), came up empty from 3-point range (0-for-9) and was outscored 19-9 in the decisive fourth quarter.
 
Similar to the Troy game on Tuesday night, the Lady Hornets were within striking distance late in the third quarter and couldn't put together a strong enough run in crunch time. 
 
The team had their chances though.
 
The Lady Hornets cut the lead to 27-24 on a layup by freshman Tatyana Calhoun with 3:42 remaining in the third.
 
However, the Lady Bulldogs stormed back with an 8-2 run to close out the quarter on  layups by Ellen Riggins and Amara Mayers and two free throws apiece by Riggins and Krista Strickland to extend the lead to nine. 
 
Alabama State could get no closer for the remainder of the game. 
 
"We have a problem right now," said Alabama State women's basketball head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson. 
 
"We're not executing.  We're not playing hard.  We shot poorly from the field, and we're not getting enough offensive rebounds.  We've got to get more offensive rebounds and get some easier points.  We scored 35 points tonight and that's not going to cut the mustard.  But, we'll figure it out." 
 
Samford (7-5) was led by Amara Mayers, who scored a career high 18 points.   
 
The team also received a good bench lift from Riggins, who shot 5-of-8 from the floor and had 13 points off the bench. 
 
Smith paced the Lady Hornets and scored a career-high 13 points including nine in the first half alone. 
 
Smith was aggressive throughout the balance as she drove to the hoop and made 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
She also added five rebounds, five assists and three steals. 
 
"She was extremely aggressive," said Jackson of Smith. "I'm really proud of her because she has played well over the last two games.   She's challenging other girls (point guards) and wants to let them know that they will not outdo her." 
 
Britney Wright, who entered as ASU's leading scorer averaging better than 13 points per game, was held to just eight.
 
Kayla Stephens got ASU on the board first with a jumper, but Samford responded with a 7-0 run before Smith drove to the goal and was fouled in the waning seconds of the first quarter. 
 
Smith made both from the line as the Lady Hornets trailed 7-4 after one. 
 
Next, the Lady Hornets will host Mobile on Saturday at 3 p.m.