There were two questions on the minds of Lady Tiger basketball coaches and fans as their team embarked on a four-day, two game swing through Bayou Country.

One: How would Campbellsville react after a 14-day layoff, and

Two: Would the fact that the New Orleans is built six feet below sea level mean that All-American forward Whitney Ballinger would be reduced to only three inches in height and the rest of the team also severely topographically challenged?

The Lady Tigers shook off some first-half rust, answered the questions in spades, and beat Loyola 83-73.



But it was a struggle.

"This was the least rhythm we'd had offensively," said Coach Ginger Colvin of her team's first-half performance. "But honestly I wasn't worried. As badly as we shot it in the first half we were only down six."

Loyola, although 5-3 coming into the game and ranked 21st in NAIA Div. 1, had lost to No. 1 Union University, 14-0 Southern Polytechnic and Columbia College, the team that ousted CU from last year's national tournament. Add to that a loss to No. 10-rated Campbellsville.

"They were a good team. They've just played a tough schedule."

Loyola owned the first 20 minutes, mainly because Campbellsville shot 33 percent from the field and 25 percent from the free throw line.

Whitney Ballinger scored 40 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Campbellsville (12-1), but it was the play of Mackenzie Lee and Kristi Ensminger down the stretch that made the difference. Lee hit a runner with 1:45 to go in the game and canned three free tosses for five of her seven points. She also had seven rebounds.

Ensminger played 24 minutes and scored on a follow with 25 second to go and the Lady Tigers clinging to a six-point lead. Ensminger's greatest contribution was the fact that she was such a pest on defense. Ballinger hit two free tosses and the lead was 10, 81-71 with 15 seconds to go.

Trailing by as much as 29-16 with a little over three minutes to go in the first half, Wendi Messer's two 3s helped ignite a late first-half 9-4 run and had the margin cut to 31-27, but for a foul at the buzzer that gave the Wolfpack a 33-27 cushion.

"She's been good for that all season," said Colvin of Messer's shooting. "She gave us the little bit of momentum we needed."

Campbellsville's levee sprung a leak at the arc and the free throw line in the initial 20 minutes. The Lady Tigers could connect on only 25 percent of its first-half charity tosses and missed out on six scoring opportunities. Had Messer not hit her two 3s with under three minutes to go, the Lady Tigers would have been 1-8 from behind the arc.

The Lady Tigers did a turnaround in the second half. Although they hit only 1-5 attempts from three after intermission, they were able to drain 19-25 free throws to up that 25 percent average from the first half to 76 percent for the game. Campbellsville protected the ball, too, and held a 16-20 edge in turnovers and stole the ball 10 times. The Lady Tigers won the battle of the boards 44-38.

Campbellsville pulled even with Loyola at the 14:18 mark when Ballinger hit two free throws. Loyola led again at 50-46 and 65-64 before CU regained the led and never relinquished it over the final four minutes.

The Lady Tigers play Xavier at 2:00 Sunday before hitting the road for a 12-hour bus ride.


Scoring

Campbellsville (83) - Ballinger 40, Heaton 10, Danis 6, Isaacs 7, Lee 7, Messer 8, Ensminger 5.

Loyola (73) - Smith 22, Gagneaux 7, Nolan 10, Emig 2, Council 21, Sprout 2, Pryer 9.    


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