JACKSON, Tenn. – Facing their second NAIA ranked opponent of the 2019-20 season, the Campbellsville University women's ran away with a 21-point victory over No. 14 MidAmerica Nazarene University by a final score of 82-61 at the Oman Arena in the first game of the NAIA Invitational.
It was a 26-24 CU lead about halfway through the second quarter after an 8-0 run by the Pioneers to start the quarter to cut the lead to its closest since early in the first quarter. The Lady Tigers responded by finishing the quarter on an extended 22-9 run to head into the halftime break up 48-33.
Junior
Sammy Rogers led all scorers in the game with a career-high 20 points off the bench as she finished 5-of-6 from the field, 3-for-3 from behind the three-point arc, and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. 14 of her 20 points came in the first half as she had seven points in each of the first two quarters of the game.
Both teams shot an even 50 percent from the field but Campbellsville took almost 20 more shots than MNU as the Lady Tigers forced a season-high 34 turnovers from the Pioneers. Those 34 turnovers turned into 43 of the Lady Tigers' 82 points as the 18 CU turnovers only turned into nine points for MidAmerica Nazarene.
CU was also a force in the paint as they finished with 57 points in the paint compared to just 36 for MNU. The rebounding edge went to the Pioneers as they outrebounded the Lady Tigers 32-24 but the advantage wasn't on the offensive glass as second-chance points was even at 10-10.
Two other Lady Tiger players finished in double figures with
Savannah Gregory finishing 7-for-10 from the field with 16 points and
Courtney Pritchett added 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Senior guard
Caitlin Hall didn't have the best shooting performances of her season but was able to dish out nine assists while adding five points.
The three-point shot was strong for CU behind Rogers' 3-for-3 game,
Lexy Lake added a pair of threes in the third quarter,
Faith Lake knocked one down late in the third and
Cristin Hall capped the game late in the fourth quarter with her only basket of the game from downtown.
Up next for the Lady Tigers will be another 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET tip against a ranked foe, this time it will be No. 8 Westmont College taking on CU Saturday afternoon as Campbellsville will look to knock off back-to-back NAIA top-15 teams.
