The blood dripping on the basketball court from a cut above MiMi DuBose’s right eye less than four minutes into the game was a clear sign that Saturday’s Southern Conference game between Georgia Southern and Samford was going to be physical.

DuBose, a Georgia Southern guard who was on the business end of a Samford player’s elbow, needed stitches, GSU head coach Rusty Cram said. She did not return in the first half.

Three minutes later, GSU forward Danielle Spencer crashed to the floor after suffering what appeared to be a left knee injury. She was helped off the court and did not return in the first half.

Both DuBose and Spencer returned and played in the second half, but scrappy GSU could not avoid a 53-47 loss to the Bulldogs at Hanner Fieldhouse. A crowd of 473 watched as Samford (7-6, 2-2) ended its two-game losing streak while GSU (5-9, 1-4) had its three-game winning streak snapped.

"We haven’t had a game we’ve played that physical and that hard yet this year, which is good for us, knowing that we can do that," said GSU guard Meredyth Frye, who scored a team-high 11 points. "It came down to shooting. Our shooting percentage was probably terrible. I know I didn’t shoot the ball well at all today.

"The refs let us play and it got physical, so there were a lot of bodies hitting each other. I think that’s what affected me most on the inside. It just came down to shooting. They hit some shots when they needed to and we couldn’t hit on our end and so (Samford’s lead) just kept going up and up."

GSU trailed, 25-19, at halftime.

The Lady Eagles twice pulled within one point in the second half. The second time GSU pulled within one point was with 4:46 to play when DuBose made a free-throw attempt but missed the second, trimming the score to 37-36.

Samford guard Paige Anderson made a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 40-36 lead with 4:07 remaining. Anderson finished with a game-high 23 points, including three of the Bulldogs’ six 3-pointers.

"Paige Anderson is their go-to player," Cram said. "She’s one of those who is going to get it done. We’ve got to continue to find that go-to player that’s going to carry us and get it done down the stretch. We’ve just got to find that player."

GSU shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from the field in the first half but shot 25 percent (5-of-20) in the second half. The Lady Eagles finished 1-of-14 from 3-point range, including 0-of-9 in the first half.

GSU guard Anna Claire Knight, a freshman from Trinity Christian in Dublin, scored a career-high 10 points.

GSU senior guard Janay Wilson had nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.

The Lady Eagles outrebounded the Bulldogs, 38-27.

"It’s great knowing that I have other teammates that can score," Frye said. "It takes a lot of the pressure off me.

"But unfortunately tonight, even though we had (Knight) step up and we had a bunch of other (players) with six, seven points, I wasn’t finishing and I struggled. And not having MiMi (DuBose) in the first half, we dropped down in scoring there."

Knight said she and her teammates were determined to match Samford’s

physical intensity.

"She busted her head open," Knight said of DuBose. "It was hard but I think we stepped up to the challenge and started hitting them back. We knew it was going to be a physical game after that and so we started pushing them back, too.

"They were taking MiMi and Meredyth out of the game, and so they were kind of leaving me not open, but when you’re concentrating on two people, somebody’s got to step up. I was able to do that and knock some shots down."

Cram said he was pleased his players were not intimidated and responded. He said they will need to do the same in the SoCon Tournament, which begins March 2 in Asheville, N.C.

"I knew (Samford’s) style of play," Cram said. "I knew they were going to play hard. Samford makes you play a physical game or they’ll run you out of the gym. You’ve got to body up with them and really play hard-nosed basketball.

"And that’s what we practiced for the last three days. And I felt like the kids executed. It’s not a matter of execution. It’s a matter of not knocking down shots."

GSU’s next game is at 5 p.m. Monday at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Lady Eagles will play Chattanooga in a SoCon game.

Noell Barnidge can be reached at (912) 489-9408.