FRANKFORT, Ky. — Katie Allen left it all on the court this Saturday afternoon in the Mid-South Conference (MSC) semifinal game against Georgetown College, scoring a career high 19 points. The junior's effort, combined with that of fellow guard Courtney Clifton, who finished with 25, will carry the team to the championship game Sunday, March 3. The game will be televised nationwide on FOX College Sports Atlantic.
"I will take Katie Allen over any other point guard in the country right now," said Colvin. "She was big for us today and we needed her. Georgetown has some unbelievable players. I watched them on film and thought, 'Wow! Can we do this?', but we sure did. We stayed in zone with the goal to wear them down and it worked.
"At halftime I challenged Mackenzie Lee and Courtney. I told them they were taking silly shots and they needed to bear down and play smart. Fortunately, they refocused and both came back out strong. I'm so proud of all our girls."
Campbellsville was the first on the board with a Lindsey Burd shot, the assist from Mackenzie Lee. Devanny King answered for Georgetown, bringing the teams even on the scoreboard, 2-2. Courtney Clifton grabbed a rebound on the next CU possession and hit the jumper to put CU up by two, 4-2 at the 17:35 mark.
Campbellsville retained the lead for the next two minutes as both teams fell silent on the boards. GC was the next to find net on a Devon Golden three-point basket at 15:35, putting the orange and black Tigers on top, 5-4. Georgetown would remain ahead until two steals and a 4-0 run from Ellen Sholtes put CU up by one again, 14-13 (9:55).
Golden immediately answered with another from behind the arc, though, once again bouncing GC ahead. Two minutes later Clifton would hit her first successful 3-pointer of the game, stealing the lead again, but it was short lived as Kourtney Tyra responded with one of her own for Georgetown.
GC kept the lead the remainder of the half, Campbellsville falling behind by as much as eight with 2:18 left on the clock. Allen went on a pivotal 5-0 run for CU, towards the end of the period, bringing the team within five at the break, 35-30.
Georgetown shot 52 percent in the half as opposed to Campbellsville's 39 percent. Clifton led CU at the break with nine points followed by Allen with seven and Sholtes with six.
King scored the initial basket of the second half, and would go on to have the first six points for the team. Georgetown went on a 12-5 run in the first five minutes, putting them ahead by 14 points. The gap was the biggest of the contest.
A Lee basket on the next possession soon gave way to a 14-2 run for CU, including five points from Lee and Allen and four from Hayley Hellyer. Lee was also big defensively in the run, with two steals and a charge. Campbellsville found themselves only two behind Georgetown, 51-49 with 10:33 remaining.
It took CU five more minutes, but finally an "and-one" from Clifton brought the score to a tie, 58-58 at the 4:51 mark.
A hustle play from post Daizah Kimberland gave way to a Lady Tiger lead in the next possession as the post grabbed a tough offensive rebound while falling to the ground and handed it to Allen for the bucket.
After another Campbellsville defensive stop, Allen's hot hand continued. The junior scored her third three-pointer for another 5-0 run from the guard.
As if Campbellsville's energy wasn't already to the roof, the momentum continued on a Clifton basket. With only one second remaining on the shot clock after the ball being tipped out of bounds, Allen inbounded the ball to Clifton at the top of the key. The senior drained the quick fade-away from downtown, bringing the score to 66-58 CU with two minutes left on the clock.
GC began fouling early in hopes of getting back in the game, but 14 of 16 fell for the Lady Tigers from behind the line. Campbellsville ended shooting an impressive 91 percent from the free-throw line. CU took the victory, 78-71.
Campbellsville forced 20 turnovers from the GC Tigers and only had 10 of their own.
Clifton ended the night with 25 points, her performance followed by Allen with a career high of 19, almost three times the guard's average points per game. Lee also obtained double-digits after going scoreless in the first half, scoring 12 points and ending with five assists and three steals.
Freshman Kristen Jacob was big on the boards for the Lady Tigers, finishing with seven rebounds, followed by Kimberland with five.
Leaders for Georgetown include: Kourtney Tyra (18), Golden (16), and King (15). King ended with a double-double, adding 10 rebounds on the afternoon.
The win will put Campbellsville in the championship game tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. EST against the No. 1 seed, Cumberland University.
The game will be televised nationwide on FOX College Sports Atlantic. To locate, which channel that is on cable and satellite, visit the FOX College Sports channel finder, here.
