CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Chelsea Craig scored a career-high 21 points and No. 3 Campbellsville extended its home record to a perfect 11-0, beating Cumberland University 68-57.

Overall Campbellsville improves to 22-1 and has a three-game lead over Lindsey Wilson College and four-game lead over the Bulldogs inside the conference. Cumberland University drops to 13-9 and 6-4 inside the MSC.

BOX SCORE

"Cumberland University came in with a little bit of a deceiving record," said CU head coach Ginger Colvin. "They do a very good job against our zone defense and have the athletes at the guard position to penetrate. This was a big win for us before we go on the road in the conference."

Campbellsville took its biggest lead, 50-36, with 10 minutes left but Cumberland would not let the Lady Tigers intimidate them.

The Bulldogs came alive and went on a 12-3 run, cutting the lead to 53-48 with 6:38 left. Cumberland was able to cut the lead to six again, 57-51 on Chelsey Hall's fifth 3-pointer but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get.

Hall finished with a game-high 23 points on 5-of-9 shooting from behind the arc and 9-of-16 overall.

"I think Hall is one of the best guards in the MSC," said Colvin.

Craig hit two free throws out of a Campbellsville timeout, sparking a 10-5 run and pushing the Lady Tigers back up by eight points, 61-53. A few minutes later the senior forward hit a 15-foot jumper to push CU ahead 66-55 to cap off her career day and seal the victory.

The duo of Craig and Lindsey Burd paid dividends for LTB inside the paint. CU picked up 12 offensive rebounds and scored 17 points off those boards. Craig capitalized on all five of her offensive boards, scoring on each.

Burd finished with 15 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Campbellsville out-rebounded Cumberland University, 32-28.

"We didn't rebound the ball well today with only 32 and we still have a ton to work on," said Colvin. "Chelsea Craig was solid for us underneath and picked up multiple rebounds that were at key times in the game.

"Chelsea has been playing with a lot of energy lately and I have been pushing Burd to do the same. They both were able to do that today and it made a difference with offensive rebounding and second-chance points."

The difference in the first matchup between these two conference foes was free throw shooting. Both teams combined for 59 free throw attempts on Dec. 6 in Lebanon, Tenn. but the Lady Tigers shot 47 of those, hitting 29 (61.7  percent). Today there wasn't a free throw attempt until the 14-second mark in the first half and both of those came from the Bulldogs.

The second half was a different story for the Lady Tigers. Campbellsville penetrated inside the defense. CU ended up going to the free throw line 23 times and hit 17 (73.9 percent) in the second half. Cumberland finished hitting 11-of-15 (72.3 percent) for the game.

"We didn't get inside the lane in the first half and played a little timid," said Colvin. "But that changed in the second half and we really forced the ball inside to our posts."

In the first half, Campbellsville hit 5-of-12 shots but also held the Bulldogs to a 2-of-14 start in the first eight minutes.

LTB also used their defense to force turnovers leading to fast-break opportunities. The Lady Tigers scored 17 points off 19 Cumberland turnovers on the afternoon.

CU took its first double-digit lead, 16-5, with 8:45 left but Cumberland never would let Campbellsville to break the game open.

CU went up 22-10 off three consecutive baskets by Daizah Kimberland, but the Bulldogs were able to whittle the lead back to six points at half time, 26-20.

Kimberland finished with 11 points and hit 5-of-6 shots from the floor.

Campbellsville will now hit the road for three straight conference games. CU will travel to Pikeville on Feb. 12, University of the Cumberlands on Feb. 14 and St. Catharine College on Feb. 21.

Campbellsville will return home to host No. 22 Shawnee State and Georgetown College to finish the regular season on Feb. 26 and Feb. 28, respectively.

"This is a big road trip for us coming up," said Colvin. "Pikeville is playing really well and Cumberlands is short-handed. But that doesn't mean it won't be a good game because no matter the situation our games are always close. Pikeville is a totally different team now than they were in November. I expect both games to be a battle."