McKENZIE, Tenn. – The No. 2 Campbellsville University women's basketball team didn't make it look pretty but pulled out a season-opening victory over Dillard University 78-69 Friday night at the Chamber Classic in McKenzie, Tenn. hosted by Bethel University.
The Lady Tigers were led by the 25-point, 11-rebound performance from redshirt junior
Savannah Gregory, with 19 points coming in the second half. Gregory's 25 ties a career-high as she helped lead CU to outscoring the Lady Bleu Devils 27-16 in the third quarter to enter the final quarter leading by 12 points at 64-52.
Nine of Gregory's 19 second half points came in the third quarter that also included four of the Lady Tigers' six three-point field goals made in the entire game. The last of the three-pointers came from a half-court heave by
Caitlin Hall at the buzzer of the third quarter to give CU that 12-point advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Hall finished the game right around her 2018-19 averages with five points, eight assists and five rebounds as the senior point guard had excellent court vision throughout the game. Fellow senior starter
Madison Faulkner was in foul trouble for a majority of the game, fouling out in the fourth quarter and finishing with 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting and five rebounds.
A pair of Lady Tigers making their first-career starts made their presence felt in a big way in the opener as
Lexy Lake and
Courtney Pritchett were the second and third leading scorers in the game for CU. Lake finished with 14 points while going 4-for-12 from three-point territory and Pritchett scoring 11 points with six rebounds, three assists and drawing a couple of offensive fouls as the redshirt freshman made quite a first impression in her Campbellsville debut.
CU struggled from an efficiency standpoint throughout the game, shooting 28-for-59 (47.5%) from the field, 6-of-24 (25.0%) from three, and 16-for-24 (66.7%) from the free throw line on the night. The Lady Tigers did win the rebounding battle as a team with 39 boards to 31 for the Lady Bleu Devils.
Dillard was led on the night by Jabria Pounds who, like Gregory, led her team in both points and rebounds with 17 and six on the night. CU's defense did a good job to limit Pounds to 7-for-18 shooting on the night.
Campbellsville women's basketball will come right back to play their final game of the Chamber Classic tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT against Brescia University at the Crisp Arena.
