MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - The #3 Lady Tigers took the road to battle the Florida Memorial University Lions on their first day down in the Sunshine State Friday afternoon. Campbellsville's steadfast team-play was too effective for the Lions to stay close, ending the contest in a Lady Tiger win, 97-48.
Florida Memorial made it first to the scoreboard, but Campbellsville did not allow them to move further upward on the lead for several possessions, scoring three buckets, propelling them to the lead. The Lady Tigers' rebounds kept the ball returning to Campbellsville, racking up basket after basket, expanding their lead. With less than five minutes left in the first 10 minutes of the game, Kayla Luebbe landed her first layup of the game, assisted by Maddie Nalley's first assist. Maddy Boyle's initial three-point bucket of the game closed the first quarter with the Lady Tigers in the lead, 23-10.
Campbellsville began the second quarter with an 11-point run with buckets from Lauren Lee, Kaitlynn Wilks, Maddy Boyle, and Courtney Pritchett. Florida Memorial's efforts to retaliate were cut short by the Lady Tigers' defensive rebounds. Elizabeth Bertram came off the bench with three three-pointer buckets, increasing Campbellsville's lead over the Lions to a 28-point advantage, closing the first half with the Lions trailing 47-19.
At the end of the first half, the Lady Tigers collected significantly more close-range baskets than the Lions, with 14 points in the paint to their eight. Additionally, Campbellsville swiftly handled the ball amongst their players, earning 16 assists to Florida Memorial's three.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Boyle started the third quarter, expanding the Lady Tigers' lead to a 34-point advantage. The Lions' fouls brought multiple Campbellsville players to the charity stripe, racking up more successful baskets for the Lady Tigers on the scoreboard. Sarah Sutton's first assist of the game assisted Bree Gowdy on the last layup of the third quarter, going into the last 10 minutes of play with Campbellsville still in the lead, 73-36.
Wilks racked up four back-to-back buckets in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Nalley came into the last quarter with her first offensive rebound (fifth overall rebound of the game), resulting in her at the free-throw line after a foul from Florida Memorial. Paige Serafini and Gowdy came off the bench with a layup each, increasing the Lions' deficit on the scoreboard. At the end of the contest, the Lady Tigers took the victory by 49 points, 97-48.
Campbellsville surpassed Florida Memorial in most statistical categories, most significantly with a well-rotated lineup racking up 34 bench points to their 14, demonstrating avid team play with 29 assists to their 12, and their close-range shots with 54 points in the paint to their 20. Wilks recorded a new career high with 27 points in just 19 minutes. She got quality look after quality look near the basket and captialized on them, shooting 83.3% on 10-12 shots. Three other Lady Tigers reached double digits during today's game: Boyle and Luebbe with 14 points each and Lee with 11.
The Lady Tigers will be back in action on their third day down in Florida, Sunday, December 17th, battling the Ave Maria University Gyrenes beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
