Over the past two weeks, Campbellsville University's women's
basketball team has almost traveled enough to be in need of an oil change for their cars. With nearly 3,000
miles under their belt, and six wins, the No. 11 Lady Tigers opened their home
season in Powell Athletic Center on Friday with a 91-81 victory over No. 35
McKendree University, 91-81, in overtime.
But the homecoming had a slow start. Tied, 2-2, after three
minutes of play, it took almost four more minutes for CU to score its second
basket of the game. The 3-pointer by Wendi Messer sparked a 9-0 run by the Lady
Tigers to end their sluggish offensive start.
"Thank goodness we did a good job defensively early to keep
them from scoring," CU head coach
Ginger Colvin said."I think our kids were
nervous. It's the first time these kids' families and friends had come to see
them play, and I think they were nervous a little bit. That's odd, since it's a
home game, but we've been on the road six games straight and this was the
seventh game in a long stretch. I don't think they knew how to play at home."
CU's nine-point lead became as many as 17 points with five
minutes to play in the opening half, 29-12, but McKendree chipped away to cut
it down to 34-22 at halftime. The second half was a different story, as the
lead dipped below 10 a few times before a McKendree six-point run midway
through the period to take a 53-52 lead.
"McKendree has a nice team. We knew they weren't going to
back down. They play a tough schedule, so we knew they wouldn't get shook up,"
Colvin said. "They got us on our heels a little bit, but we kept attacking."
CU responded with a Megan Isaacs free throw and 3-pointer by
T.J. Thomas, who finished with 10 points.
"
T.J. Thomas came in and played a solid game and hit two big
threes," Colvin said. "
Megan Isaacs has been as solid for us as anyone all year
long. She ended up with 14 points and five rebounds, but the thing about Megan
is her stat line is not what shows what she does for us."
Whitney Ballinger, who had a career-high 36 points, scored
10 points, including a key 3-pointer, in the final three minutes of regulation
to help CU keep at least a one-possession lead. A Ballinger free throw with 10
seconds left turned a one-point game into a 74-72 lead before Jessica Steinmetz
tied the game with less than two seconds to play.
"Obviously Whitney
Ballinger stepped up tonight. We've been after her to attack the glass. She
worked hard this summer, and I don't think she realizes how strong she is yet,"
Colvin said. "She started early not attacking the basket like she's able to but
tonight she did."
Ballinger also had 16 rebounds in the game.
In overtime, Melly Heaton opened the five-minute period with
a 3-pointer to give CU a 77-74 lead. She added another with 1:23 left to
stretch the lead to 89-81. Ballinger and Courtney Danis, who finished with only
five points, were 7-of-7 from the free throw line, while Messer was also
2-for-2 from the stripe.
Before the game, Danis was honored by Colvin with an
autographed basketball to signify her membership to the CU 1,000 Point Club
during the 2008-09 Mid-South Conference Tournament.
CU (7-0) will take seven days to prepare for its next game,
Dec. 5, at No. 1 Union University in Jackson, Tenn.
"We've got to work on defense. We've got to let our players
get their legs back and rest," Colvin said. "Union has a very good team,
obviously. They're No. 1 in the country but that's what we want. We want to
crawl up there into the Top 5 in the country and we're not going to be unless
we can compete with those teams. We want to go down there and compete and let
everything fall into place."
The game will tip-off at 3 p.m. on live television,
broadcast in Jackson and on the Web by EPlusTV6. It will also be broadcast live
on the CU Sports Network via ESPN 1450 AM and WTCOSports.com.
PHOTO GALLERY
