INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — In a game where defense was golden and offense pewter, Campbellsville came up with enough big shots to subdue LSU Shreveport Thursday night, 55-46, in the first round of the 2015 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, presented by Susan G. Komen® Greater Kansas City.

BOX SCORE

Shreveport hadn't been held below 50 points since January 2014 when Wiley beat the Lady Pilots 88-49.

"Daizah (Kimberland) hit some big shots for us in the first half and Emily's (Fox) 3s were big too," said coach Ginger Colvin after the game. "We didn't do a great job defensively or rebound particularly well, but we move on."

The Lady Tigers (30-3) had 11 assists on 13 made baskets in the first half to help surge to a 30-17 half-time lead. They finished with an astounding 17 assists on 20 made baskets.

LeeAnn Grider led the team with seven of those assists. Caroline Owen had three.

The Lady Tigers forced 25 Shreveport turnovers and scored 15 points off of them. CU held onto the ball, giving it up nine times.

But Shreveport (20-12) went on an 11-4 run out of the second-half blocks and stayed within striking distance the rest of the way.

Shreveport's Kourtney Pennywell scored 13 points in the first half and had four more buckets during the 11-4 run in the second, but did not score again until she hit a free throw with three minutes lefty in the game.

"At our last timeout she was exhausted," said Colvin. "I'm glad she was. She still had a great game."

Fox had two first-half 3s and hit two more in the second to account for Campbellsville's 4-for-18 from behind the arc.

The Lady Pilots were down six, 34-28, when Fox hit her first second-half 3. She did it again right after Alexandra Miller drained a 3 for Shreveport. CU led 41-37 when Kristin Jacob took a nice feed from the wing from Lindsey Burd to secure a 43-37 cushion.

"Emily's answer took what momentum they had built up right out of them," offered Colvin.

Campbellsville hit 8-of-12 free throws down the stretch and never let Shreveport get any closer than 46-40.

Burd tied Fox for team-high scoring honors with 13 and also pulled down a team-high nine boards. Shreveport beat CU on the glass 50-32, 17 Lady Pilot boards coming off the offensive glass.

Pennywell led all scorers with 22 and was big on the boards as well with 17.

The Lady Tigers will meet the winner of the 9 p.m. ET game between Mid-America Nazarene and Wayland Baptist  on Friday, March 20 at 9 ET.

To follow the Lady Tigers throughout the year, check out @LTB_CU and @CvilleTigers on Twitter and Campbellsville Tigers on Facebook.

Complete coverage of Campbellsville's trip to the NAIA Division I Women's & Men's Basketball Championships can be found on the CU Tournament Central page, HERE.