INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — If there were a stat for giving the fan base a root canal, Campbellsville would lead the nation. The good news is all the patients survived.

The Lady Tigers slogged through a second straight night, winning 52-45 over 13th-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene and advancing to the Elite Eight of the NAIA DI Women's Basketball National Championships at the Independence Events Center.

BOX SCORE

The Lady Tigers were outrebounded MNU 34-29, hit 47 percent of their free throws and turned the ball over 23 times.

"It's tournament time," said coach Ginger Colvin. "We're not talking about a big stat. We're talking about making the Elite Eight!"

Women's basketball is now 22-22 all-time in 23 NAIA appearances and is headed to their ninth quarterfinal, including their fourth in the last six years under Colvin's direction.

Campbellsville never trailed in the game, moving out to 7-0 lead and never allowing the Pioneers to get closer than five, 45-40, with 60 seconds to go in the game.

Caroline Owen, who celebrated her 23rd birthday Friday, hit two free throws with 22 second remaining to give CU the breathing room it needed.

Nazarene's Daria Sprew led all scorers with 17, followed by Jasmine Webb's 14.

Campbellsville was able to construct a 31-21 half time lead on the shooting arms of Owen and Madison Clements, both of whom hit two 3s in the first 20 minutes.

Owen's third 3 at the 7:45 mark gave CU a 41-32 lead. Clements then hit a layup right before Megan Balcom's second 3 cut the lead to 43-37.

With the score 46-39, Chelsea Craig followed her own miss and then LeeAnn Grider picked up a steal at midcourt and Craig hit a jumper for a 50-41 with a minute to go.

Madison Clements led three players in double figurers with 12. Caroline Owen and Lindsey Burd had 11 each. Craig led CU with seven rebounds and LeeAnn Grider and Emily Fox had four assists each.

The Lady Tigers had 12 assists on 20 made baskets and turned MidAmerica over a season-high 26 times, 16 in the first half.

The Lady Tigers will meet the winner of the 9:45 p.m. CT/10:45 ET game between Bethel and Concordia at 8 p.m. CT/ 9 ET on Saturday, March 21.

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.