MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In a game of spurts, Campbellsville produced the final one and escaped Purdue University Northwest tonight, 83-77, in the Miami-Doral Hotels Classic. It ended a six-game winning streak for the PRide and pushed CU to five straight wins.
Holding 10-point leads on multiple occasions, The Lady Tigers (12-2) allowed Darien Thompson 24 second-half points and the Skyhawks (13-4) would never go away.
CU was led by the double-digit scoring of
Madison Clements (20) and 15 each by
Jordan Doram and
Emily Fox.
Fox hit two 3s with under a minute gone in the third quarter and a Clements' trey pushed Campbellsville to a 66-56 lead early in the period.
Purdue Northwest closed it to 56-52 to end the third quarter after a 13-4 run over the final six minutes. After Thompson hit a 3 at the 2:30 mark of the game, the Skyhawks trailed 74-69. But Fox hit two free throws and Clements her fourth 3 of the game to push the lead to 79-69.
To start the game, the Lady Tigers cooled after a fast start that saw them run out to a 15-3 lead, thanks to a balanced attack that saw five different players reach the scoring column. But Doram picked up her second foul with four minutes to go in the opening quarter and CU was only able to play stalemate basketball the rest of the way.
Doram's points came in only 17 minutes of play as she was shackled with foul trouble most of the game.
Purdue Northwest killed CU on the boards (37-24), but the Lady Tigers were able to turn the Skyhawks over 27 times. Clements had four steals and Fox and
LeeAnn Grider had three each. Grider went down with a right knee injury just seconds in to the second half and played only 16 minutes.
In her absence,
Lauren Turner, who played 20 minutes, dished out a career-high eight assists to help the Lady Tigers to a 20-10 advantage in that statistical category.
Purdue Northwest used 14 first-half points by Cassidy Deno to keep it close, inching to within 27-24 while Campbellsville went cold over the first five minutes of the second quarter.
Madison Faulkner and Queralt-Coll Paradas had four second-quarter points.
Madison Clements culminated a 7-2 run with a jumper and CU led 34-24.
The Lady Tigers turn right around and play Thomas University tomorrow at noon ET at St. Thomas University as part of the Miami-Doral Hotels Classic. Coverage starts at 11:45 on the CU Sports Network.
Fans can follow the Lady Tigers throughout the year on Twitter @CvilleTigers and @LTB_CU. Also on Facebook – Campbellsville Tigers and online at www.CampbellsvilleTigers.com.
