FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Campbellsville University dominated the final six minutes Sunday to blow past Shawnee State University, 72-58, in Farnham Dudgeon Arena and claim the 2011 Mid-South Conference Women's Basketball Tournament championship.

The win is Campbellsville's fourth time to win both the MSC regular season and tournament titles, and first since 2004, ending a two-year run as regular season champ but tournament bridesmaid. CU has won the regular season title 10 times but is the only team to win the tournament as a No. 1 seed, doing so in 1998 and again this year. The win is also historic, as it is the 106^th for the CU seniors, making them the winningest senior class in Lady Tiger history at 106-26.

"We're a senior club, and that's all these kids have talked about - getting here, finishing and not leaving here without cutting the nets down. They proved it," CU head coach Ginger Colvin said. "Shawnee State did an absolutely amazing job. They switched defenses on us and played very hard. They have a good team, a very good team. They played up to their potential today, but I think down toward the end our seniors stepped up."

Campbellsville trailed 54-50 with seven minutes to play by junior Megan Isaacs, who led CU with 10 rebounds, scored a second-chance basket with 6:40 to play to cut the Bears' lead to a basket, 54-52. The basket, combined with a switch to a zone defense, sparked 15 unanswered points and a 22-4 run to seal the win.

"They were attacking us like crazy. We thought we'd try zone and it worked," said Colvin, whose team held the Bears to 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. "They have a really good 3-point shooting team. I was real, real iffy about going zone, but I thought that was the difference in the game ... We got out and covered the shooters really well, and they took some shots they really didn't want to take. That changed the tone for us."

Shawnee State led the game for the first nine-plus minutes before Whitney Ballinger gave the Lady Tigers a 20-17 lead with an old-fashion 3-point play. After the Bears posted a five-point run, Ballinger responded with another and-one play to pass the 2,000-point mark for her career and regain the Lady Tigers' lead, 23-22. The milestone sparked an 11-3 run to stretch CU's lead to six, 31-25, but Shawnee rallied to tie the game, 33-33, in the final minute of the half.

Corin Dunn and Melly Heaton scored six points in the final minute, including a 3 from Heaton with four seconds to play in the opening period, to lead 39-35 at the break.

In the second half, Campbellsville stretched the lead to seven, 42-35, but Shawnee Sate outscored the Lady Tigers, 19-8 over the next seven minutes to take a 54-50 lead with seven minutes to play. After the Lady Tigers broke the game open, Isaacs clinched the win with a steal and lay up to give her a double-double with 10 points. Ballinger added the exclamation mark with a block on the final play of the game and a champion's yell as she lofted the ball toward the ceiling.

Sophomore guard Courtney Clifton also had 10 points in the win, while senior Melly Heaton led the bench with 13 points.

Ballinger, who had 13 points at the half, scored 11 in the final four minutes of the game. The two-time Mid-South Conference Player of the Year and defending NAIA Player of the Year finished with 28 points, giving her an average of 27.5 points per game through the tournament on 48.75 percent shooting. She is the second CU player to ever score 2,000 points and grab 1,000-plus rebounds, but the only one to add more than 350 blocks to her 101-game career totals.

"Whitney has been able to provide that in three years, and that's unbelievable. It's phenomenal, and she's on a team of scorers. It's not like she's on a team playing really bad competition or a team where no one else scores," Colvin said. "She's on a really good basketball team and is still putting up those numbers. She's just an unbelievable player."

Shawnee State had 12 points from senior Jill Cropper, while sophomore Catrice Mitchell flipped in 10. Mitchell was one of two Bears with seven rebounds.

The win evened Colvin's record to 3-3 as head coach against Shawnee State's Robin Hagen-Smith, who was named the MSC Coach of the Year on Wednesday. Hagen-Smith will be inducted into the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Hall of Fame next week.

"I can't say enough about Shawnee State's program. Robin's a class act. Her team's a class act, and she's a class act. It's nice to be able to compete against people that you have that much respect for," Colvin said.

Campbellsville (28-3) awaits the announcement of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament pairings, which will be released Wednesday, March 9. CU is currently ranked No. 4 in the NAIA. Shawnee State, the 2010 NAIA Division II runner-up, punched their ticket to their first NAIA Division I tournament by reaching the final.

LADY TIGER CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
MSC Regular Season: 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011
MSC Tournament: 1997, 1998, 2004, 2011
KIAC Regular Season: 1982, 1983, 1984
KIAC Tournament: 1983, 1986, 1989
KWIC Tournament: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982

STAT SUMMARY

Shawnee (58) - Cropper 12, Mitchell 10, McKinney 9, Penn 9, Pohl 7, Ballman 6, Guthrie 3, Sheets 2. Totals 25-58 7-9 58.

Lady Tigers (72) - Ballinger 28, Heaton 13, Isaacs 10, Clifton 10, Lee 6, Dunn 4, Danis 1. Totals 24-61 19-25 72.

Half-time - Campbellsville 39-35.

Three-point goals - Shawnee 1-8, Campbellsville 5-17 (Heaton 3, Clifton 2).

Rebounds - Shawnee 37 (McKinney 7, Mitchell 7), Campbellsville 36 (Isaacs 10, Ballinger 5, Danis 4, Clifton 4).

Assists - Shawnee 12 (Ballman 5), Campbellsville 14 (Lee 4, Isaacs 4, Heaton 3, Danis, Ballinger, Williams).

Steals - Shawnee 8, Campbellsville 9 (Lee 3, Isaacs 3).

Blocked shots - Shawnee 5 (Mitchell 4), Campbellsville 3 (Ballinger 3).