BLUEFIELD, Va. – Campbellsville took its first lead at the 18:21 mark in the first half and never looked back, beating Bluefield College, 69-42.
Offensively the scoring came from the Lady Tigers' deep bench. Ellen Sholtes and LeeAnn Grider both stepped up on the defensive side and led CU with four steals apiece. The duo also led Campbellsville with three assists.
"This was a big win for us at the end of the season," said CU Head Coach Ginger Colvin. "It is nice to get the emotions out of the way and finish on top of our conference. The MSC is, in my opinion, Top 3 in the NAIA and coming out on top as the regular season champion is huge going into the tournament."
Campbellsville came out in its trademark extended zone to start the matchup. The Lady Tigers pressured Bluefield throughout the first half and forced 16 turnovers, scoring 20 points off those takeaways and recording seven steals.
The Lady Tigers were firing from all cylinders from behind the 3-point arc. Caroline Owen scored CU's first points from behind the arc and hit two more 3s to lead Campbellsville is the first half with 11 points.
Bluefield seemed to lose track of the shooters for Campbellsville. Katie Allen and Mary Jehlik were also able to knock down a 3-pointers for CU, leading to 5-for-8 behind the arc.
"Caroline is solid for us when she is in the game," said Colvin. "When she hits shots, she gives us a boost but she can play defense and do a lot of the intangibles that go unnoticed."
With the score 7-5 in favor of CU, the Lady Tigers went on a 33-12 run to close out the opening half. Although Campbellsville started the route over Bluefield early, the Lady Tigers struggled at times with blocking out the Rams.
CU came in ranked No. 5 in rebound margin, grabbing 11 more rebounds a game, but Bluefield did not back down and grabbed 17 rebounds with eight coming on the offensive side. Campbellsville also had 17 rebounds in the first half.
"Our post players have had open looks but aren't finishing at the rim," said Colvin. "We need to get them back on track on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Bluefield is a tough team to cover in the paint and gave us a little trouble at times."
Bluefield went on a 6-2 run and its defense forced three early turnovers for the Lady Tigers in the second half, forcing Colvin to call a time out.
But the second group of Lady TIgers came in, providing the spark Colvin was looking for.
Grider and Angie Lawrence both made a difference with the intensity. Grider picked up two of her four steals in the game and passed on to Angie Lawrence for her only 3-pointer of the game, giving CU its largest lead at 30 points, 53-23, with 12:21 remaining.
After the 3 from Lawrence, the Lady Tigers began to struggle shooting from the floor. But their defense stepped up once again forcing 17 second half turnovers, finishing with 33 overall and 17 steals.
Campbellsville shot 51.6 percent from the floor but dropped to 40 percent overall (26-for-65). The Lady Tigers shot well above their average at the free throw line, hitting 10-of-12 (83.3 percent).
Jehlik finished with 12 points leading the Lady Tigers. Owen did not score in the second half, finishing with 11 and Sholtes rounded out CU in double figures with 10 points.
Janee Simmons led Bluefield with game-highs in points (15) and rebounds (14). Asia Wheeler pitched in 10 points.
CU finishes the regular season with a record of 27-3 overall and 16-2 in the MSC. It is the third best MSC record in the Colvin era, as the Lady Tigers finished 14-0 in 2009-10 and 16-1 in 2010-11.
It is also the fifth time a Colvin team has finished with 25 or more wins in a season. The previous four were 2008-09 (26-7), 2009-10 (33-3), 2010-11 (30-4) and 2012-13 (25-10).
Since the inaugural season in 1976-77, Campbellsville has a total of 27 seasons with at least 20 wins and two 30 win seasons coming in 2010 and 2011.
Campbellsville will return to action Friday, March 7 in the Mid-South Conference Touranment quarterfinals in Lebanon, Tenn. CU will face Bluefield College in a quartefinal rematch beginning at 3 p.m. EST.
You can catch all the MSC at the home page provided by Cumberland University, HERE.
To follow Lady Tiger Basketball behind the scenes, check them out on Twitter - @LTB_CU and @CvilleTigers. Also on Facebook – Campbellsville Tigers.
