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.