Rising and shining was not a problem Friday morning for the Western Carolina Catamounts.
Trying to combat a scorching Samford, however, was another matter.
The second-seeded Bulldogs shot 67 percent in the first half and had a 16-2 run right before intermission that held up in a 57-48 quarterfinal victory in the Southern Conference women's tournament at McKenzie Arena. The 10th-seeded Catamounts were playing their second game in 18 hours and held up well other than that costly stretch.
"I think that's natural," Samford coach Mike Morris said. "That's one of the bad things about having to play in the morning, but as a 2 seed you need some advantage, so you're playing somebody who just got through playing."
Samford improved to 23-7 and will not play again until Sunday afternoon, when the Bulldogs face the winner of this morning's game between the third-seeded University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and 11th-seeded Wofford. WCU, which captured the women's title in the tournament's first two stops at McKenzie (2005 and '09), ended its season at 9-22.
"Fatigue might have possibly played a role," Catamounts coach Karen Middleton said. "However, I think it comes down to Samford having a more experienced ball club."
Samford defeated WCU by 15 and 12 in the regular season, but the Catamounts held a 21-16 lead when Emily Clarke made a pair of free throws with 7:09 left in the first half. That's when the Bulldogs embarked on their run.
An Emily London 3-pointer at the 5:44 mark put Samford ahead to stay at 22-21, and a jump shot in the lane by Savannah Hill with 1:49 left capped the surge at 32-23.
Hill, who made seven of nine shots in the first half, and London credited Jazmine Powers for sparking the spurt. Powers had six points and two steals during the stretch.
"We needed somebody to come in and get us on the right track," London said, "because we did not start the game the way we wanted."
The Catamounts got within 53-48, but a three-point play by London with 4:54 remaining gave Samford a more comfortable cushion.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.