PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Campbellsville Lady Tiger Basketball outlasted University of Pikeville down the stretch and withstood a late 12-1 run from the Bears to win the outright 2014 Mid-South Conference regular season, 75-59.
The Lady Tigers jumped to their biggest lead of 61-37 in the second half, but went without a field goal for five-plus minutes. Pikeville was able to cut the lead to 11 points, but Katie Allen stepped up once again when her team needed a lift.
The senior from Fort Thomas, Ky. hit a 3-pointer on the left wing to push CU out to a 14-point lead and Pikeville would not get closer than 12 down the stretch.
"That was a huge 3-pointer by Katie," said Lady Tiger Head Coach Ginger Colvin. "She's a senior and stepped up and hit those big shots when we need a boost."
Campbellsville started slow but used its defense once again to spark a big run. After a Courtney Haney layup for UPIKE, Mary Jehlik one-up'd her and hit the Lady Tigers' first 3-pointer, giving CU a 15-12 lead with 12:11 left.
The Lady Tigers then went on a 12-0 run to push to a 22-12 lead. Daizah Kimberland, Ellen Sholtes, Katie Allen and Jehlik all contributed with baskets in the run.
CU's defense was the high point in the first 20 minutes. The Lady Tigers picked up 12 steals and forced 17 turnovers, scoring 18 points off those turnovers.
"It was the best rotation we had all year," said Colvin. "We trusted one another and communicated very well. This is the time we want to start playing good defense especially with the tournament coming up. I was really pleased with the way we came out in our defensive sets. Our offense came out sluggish but our defense made up for it and forced turnovers."
The Pikeville defense could not match the offensive speed and athleticism from Campbellsville. Ellen Sholtes used her ability to get to the rim to score two baskets in the paint and drew two fouls on layups, hitting all four shots.
Campbellsville hit three 19-foot jumpers, just inside the 3-point arc, but Jehlik stepped behind the line and hit another 3 late in the first half to put CU up by double-digits, 35-23. She finished with 10 first-half points on 4-for-7 from the floor and 2-for-4 from behind the 3-point line.
Caroline Owen picked up a steal from Callisha Johnson and Kimberland received a pass from Angie Lawrence to give CU its biggest lead in the first half, 41-26. UPIKE would hit a free throw in the final minute to cut the lead to 14 points at the half, 41-27.
Campbellsville would stretch its lead to 24 points in the second half after a Lindsey Burd layup, but the Lady Tigers would go five-plus minutes without a field goal and only getting a single free throw by Sholtes.
Pikeville was able to cut the lead to 11 points with 5:16 left in the game, but that's when Allen put a stop to the UPike comeback. She finished with 15 points on 6-for-13 shooting and hit one 3-pointer on her three attempts.
Campbellsville would step its defense up once again and the pressure got to the Bears late in the game. Pikeville would go on its own drought and would not score for three minutes until Brogan Conley hit a 3-pointer with 56 seconds remaining.
Conley led UPike with 19 points on 5-for-6 from behind the 3-point line. Cheyenne Madden scored 10 points to round off the Bears in double figures.
Guard Callisha Johnson came in averaging 17.9 points per game but Campbellsville held the senior to only nine points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Sholtes led CU with 19 points, as the senior got to the lane with ease. She shot 6-for-15 from the floor but hit 7-of-9 free throws. Sholtes also dished out six assists to lead CU.
Mary Jehlik stepped up for the Lady Tigers as well, shooting 6-for-11 from the floor and leading CU with three made 3-point baskets. She was also perfect from the line hitting both free throws.
"Mary hasn't been feeling her best the past month or so," said Colvin. "But she is getting back to the Mary of old and made some big shots for us tonight. We will need her down the stretch in the MSC Tournament."
Campbellsville has now won 17 straight games over Pikeville and 14 straight in the Colvin era.
The Lady Tigers sealed the outright Mid-South Conference Championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MSC Tournament. Campbellsville will play against the No. 8 seed at 3 p.m. ET in Lebanon, Tenn. on the campus of Cumberland University.
You can follow the MSC Tournament Central page, here.
You can follow Lady Tiger Basketball behind the scenes throughout the rest of the 2014 season on Twitter- @LTB_CU and @CvilleTigers and Facebook – Campbellsville Tigers.
