Lady Camels Defeat Samford 79-58 In TAAC Tournament Quarterfinal

ORLANDO, FLA. – Campbell University broke open a close game in the second half and defeated Samford 79-58 in the quarterfinal round of the Trans America Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the UCF Arena.
Campbell began its defense of the TAAC championship by hitting 63 percent from the floor in the final period to pull away from a 33-25 halftime margin.
TAAC Player of the Year April Cromartie led all scorers with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. All-TAAC point guard Janice Washington contributed 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, while TAAC Freshman of the Year Crystal Clary added 10 points and four blocked shots. Syreeta Gambrell came off the bench to score nine points, while Carrie Emory and Sara Moore contributed eight apiece.
Campbell used an 18-6 run midway through the final period to break open the game, capped by Gambrell's three with 10:49 remaining to push the advantage to 56-35. Campbell led by as many as 27 points.
The Lady Camels shot 52 percent from the floor (32-62) on the game, including a 17-for-27 effort in the final half. CU held a 38-33 edge on the glass.
Aimee Cochran and Giovanni Price led Samford with nine points each. The Bulldogs hit just 36 percent (21-58) of their field goals on the game.
The top-seeded Lady Camels improved to 21-6 on the year heading into Friday's 6:00 p.m. semifinal contest against either fourth seed Jacksonville or fifth-seeded Troy State. Samford, the number eight seed, concluded its season with an 8-21 record.
"We had great team play and great defensive play. Samford came at us really hard. But we came out early in the second half and hit some shots on the perimeter and took some pressure off our inside players," said Campbell's Wanda Watkins, who was honored as the TAAC Coach of the Year. "Our girls were so ready to play today, I thought they were going to tear the locker room doors down."
Radio coverage of Campbell's games in the TAAC Tournament is carried on WCCE 90.1 FM (Buies Creek) and WAZZ 1490 AM (Fayetteville). [ box ]