HOMEWOOD, ALA. -- Andrea Cournoyer scored 34 points, including seven points in a pivotal fourth quarter stretch, to help Samford hold off Furman, 78-72, in Southern Conference women's basketball action Thursday evening at the Pete Hanna Center.

The win improves Samford to 8-7 overall and keeps the Bulldogs in first place with a 5-1 league mark.  Furman falls to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in league action.

The Paladins and Bulldogs play again Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Furman got a team high 22-point performance from senior Tierra Hodges and a season high 20-point effort from freshman Sydney James.

After Greyson Boone's 3-pointer gave Furman a 63-61 lead with 3:30 to go, Samford's Annie Ramil tied it with a pair of free throws and Cournoyer converted a three-point play and drained a jump shot in the lane on the Bulldogs' next to possessions to put Samford up, 68-63.

James pulled Furman to within 68-66 with her third 3-pointer of the quarter, but Ramil put down a layup and Cournoyer finished off the decisive 11-3 spurt with a pair of free throws with 39 seconds remaining to give Samford a 72-66 advantage.

The Samford junior transfer capped her performance with four more free throws over the final 26 seconds to seal the verdict.  She went 10-for-20 (3x8 3PFGs) from the field, canned 11-of-12 free throws, and scored 23 of her 34 points in the second half, helping Samford overcome a 35-31 halftime deficit.

The Bulldogs outscored the Paladins 23-11 in the third quarter before Furman rallied behind James, whose two early fourth quarter 3-pointers fueled a 12-2 run that put the Paladins up, 58-56, following a Hodges layup at the 6:32 mark.

Samford shot 43.9 percent from the field (25x57), including 8-of-21 from beyond the arc (38.1%) and drained 20-of-24 free throw opportunities.

Furman connected on 25-of-61 shots (41.0%) and claimed a 40-31 rebounding advantage, but the Paladins committed 18 turnovers, which led to a 21-13 scoring differential in favor of Samford.

Celena Taborn finished with 10 points to give Furman three players in double figures.