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Campbell University

Women's Basketball Surges Past USC Upstate 84-70

SPARTANBURG, S.C.-- Senior Marlena Murphy scored 18 points in second half to lead Campbell to a 84-70 win over USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon at the Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C. The win snapped CU's five-game skid in the first-ever meeting between these two schools.

Murphy tied her career-high with 24 points and ripped down 18 rebounds. The 18 rebounds also tied Murphy's career high. Sophomore Ashley Williamson chipped in 18 point and gathered nine rebounds off the bench for the Camels. The 18 points also tied Williamson's career best.

The Campbell bench scored a season-high 48 points with redshirt sophomore Lynisha Ochogu going 9-for-11 from the free throw line in scoring a career-high 17 points. Ochogu also led the team with three steals. Senior Kristin Graham also gave the team valuable minutes off the bench with seven points and three assists, which tied her for the team lead.

USC Upstate (4-10, 0-2 A-Sun) was led by a career-high 30 from Courtney Hawkins. Hawkins, who came into the game as the team's leading scorer, went a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe. Freshman Kasey Thompson scored 17 points before fouling out for the Spartans.

The Camels went 28-for-63 from the field for the game (45 percent), but really picked up the shooting with 53 points in the second half. CU's offense shot 15-of-29 (51 percent) from the field while also hitting 23 free throws in the second stanza. Campbell used a strong inside presence the entire game and scored 40 of the 84 in the paint.

CU (6-10, 1-2 A-Sun) held a wide margin the rebounding battle, pulling down 50 boards, including 17 on the offensive end. The Spartans went 22-of-60 for the game (37 percent) and hit 21-of-28 free throws (75 percent). Upstate had 29 rebounds and were led by five rebounds from both Hawkins and Thompson.

Campbell took control of the game with a 14-3 run at the end of the first half and start of the second stanza to open up a nine-point advantage on Lindsay Smithberger's three. Upstate fought back and got to within five on Courtney Bradley's layup. CU got the lead to double-digits for the first time on a pair of made Murphy free throws. Upstate kept hanging around and stymied CU from opening up larger advantage, until Williamson's driving layup at the 4:48 mark made the score 73-57. Despite being outscored 13-11 over the last nearly five minutes of game time, Campbell coasted to a 84-70 victory.

In the first half, after a slow start that saw Upstate not score its first point until the 13:37 mark on a made three-point field goal from Thompson, the two teams found themselves tied at eight at the 12 minute media timeout. The Camels used a late 8-3 rally to take a 31-26 run into the break. Williamson led the charge with eight points. Murphy totaled six points and nine rebounds.

CU continues the road trip and heads to Johnson City, Tenn. to take on East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on Jan 14. This game will be shown LIVE on the Fighting Camel Zone!

Notes: This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools ... Murphy's 24 points were the most scored by CU since Dec. 28, 2007 when Gara Bell scored 22 points against Alcorn State ... Junior Cara Bell hit both her free throws for the seventh and eighth points of her career ... Redshirt sophomore Lieset van den Heuvel grabbed her third rebound of the season in the final minute of game action for CU.
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Players Mentioned

Cara Bell

#22 Cara Bell

F
5' 9"
Junior
Kristin Graham

#4 Kristin Graham

G
5' 5"
Senior
Marlena Murphy

#50 Marlena Murphy

C
6' 0"
Senior
Lynisha Ochogu

#15 Lynisha Ochogu

G
5' 7"
Redshirt
Lindsay Smithberger

#21 Lindsay Smithberger

F
5' 10"
Sophomore
Lieset van den Heuvel

#52 Lieset van den Heuvel

C
6' 4"
Redshirt

Players Mentioned

Cara Bell

#22 Cara Bell

5' 9"
Junior
F
Kristin Graham

#4 Kristin Graham

5' 5"
Senior
G
Marlena Murphy

#50 Marlena Murphy

6' 0"
Senior
C
Lynisha Ochogu

#15 Lynisha Ochogu

5' 7"
Redshirt
G
Lindsay Smithberger

#21 Lindsay Smithberger

5' 10"
Sophomore
F
Lieset van den Heuvel

#52 Lieset van den Heuvel

6' 4"
Redshirt
C