Winning the past two games by a combined 92 points and having a load of free time can sometimes cause teams to play a sloppy next game during Christmas break. Not the 10^th ranked Campbellsville University Lady Tigers, who put up one of their best defensive showings of the season to down nationally ranked Shawnee State University, 83-66, at home Friday.

"I thought it would be a close game. But we hit some big shots and had some people step up and score. We have a lot of offensive weapons, and if we play defense, we'll be hard to beat," CU head coach Ginger Colvin said. "Tonight was one of the best defensive showings we've had. We beat a real good team tonight."

The Lady Bears, ranked No. 4 in NAIA Division II, led the first eight minutes of the game until the first media timeout. That's when Whitney Ballinger checked back into the game.

Ballinger's impact was felt immediately, blocking a shot to set up a game-tying 3-pointer by Melly Heaton, 22-22, and powering her team to a lead it never relinquished. Over the next four minutes, Ballinger turned a 22-19 deficit into a 34-24 lead, scoring eight of the Lady Tigers' 15 points in the run and helping set up the other seven. She finished the game with 21 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three blocks in 24 minutes of play.

"She played like an All-American tonight," Colvin said. "She's all around player and that showed. We really wanted a high post and she came out and provided it."

Through the rest of the game, Heaton, Courtney Danis and Mackenzie Lee combined for 50 points each to join Ballinger in double figure scoring. Danis quietly built her scoring tally to 20 points, while Heaton and Lee each had 15 points and three 3-pointers each.

"I think Courtney's an All-American also. We talk about Whitney all the time, but Courtney gives us a solid game, game-in and game-out. She has to be considered among the top," Colvin said. "Melly and Mac hit some big shots at key times also."

Defensively, Campbellsville scored 21 points off 23 Shawnee turnovers. The Lady Tigers had 10 steals and blocked seven shots, while holding a 46-percent shooting team to 39.4 percent from the floor.

Jill Cropper led Shawnee with 21 points in the post, followed by Whitney Williams' 14 points and 12 from Mallory Albers, who was plagued with foul trouble.

Campbellsville snapped a three-game series losing skid to Shawnee, who beat CU, 106-58, last year and 79-72 and 64-62 the previous two years.

CU (11-1) hosts the 2007 NAIA Division II national champions, Indiana Wesleyan University (11-2) in the final game before Christmas on Saturday at 2 p.m.

PHOTO GALLERY


BOX SCORE


SHORT BOX SCORE

Shawnee State Univ vs. Campbellsville University
Shawnee State Univ (9-2 NAIA DII #4)
Jill Cropper 7-11 6-6 21, Alison Meyer 2-11 2-4 6, Mallory Albers 3-10 5-6 12, Whitney Williams 5-10 2-2 14, Keilee Guthrie 3-5 0-0 8, Abby Ballman 1-13 3-4 5, Alex Pohl 0-1 0-0 0, Catrice Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Allison Nagle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 18-22 66

Campbellsville University (10-1 NAIA DI #10)
Mackenzie Lee 5-9 2-2 15, T.J. Thomas 0-2 0-0 0, Keisha Compton 0-0 0-0 0, Melly Heaton 3-11 6-6 15, Wendi Messer 2-7 0-0 4, Courtney Danis 7-13 5-5 20, Kristi Ensminger 3-5 0-1 6, Megan Isaacs 0-2 0-2 0, Corin Dunn 0-1 2-2 2, Whitney Ballinger 7-11 6-8 21. Totals 27-61 21-26 83

SCORE BY PERIODS	1st	2nd	TOTAL
Shawnee State Univ	35	31	66
Campbellsville University	51	32	83

FG%: Shawnee State Univ .339, Campbellsville University .443. 3-pt FG:Shawnee State Univ 6-17 (Cropper 1-1, Albers 1-2, Williams 2-5, Guthrie 2-4, Ballman 0-4, Nagle 0-1), Campbellsville University 8-23 (Lee 3-4, Thomas 0-2, Heaton 3-9, Messer 0-3, Danis 1-3, Isaacs 0-1, Ballinger 1-1). Rebounds: Shawnee State Univ 34 (Cropper 12), Campbellsville University 54 (TEAM 13). Fouls Shawnee State Univ 23, Campbellsville University 16. Fouled out: Albers Cropper . Technical: none. Assists: Shawnee State Univ 11 (Ballman 6), Campbellsville University 19 (Thomas 6). Steals: Shawnee State Univ 18 (Meyer 5, Ballman 5), Campbellsville University 10 (Ballinger 4). Blocked shots: Shawnee State Univ 2 (Cropper 1, Ballman 1), Campbellsville University 7 (Ballinger 3). Turnovers: Shawnee State Univ 23, Campbellsville University 26. Attendance: 300.