BUIES
CREEK, N.C.—Campbell will play in Carter Gym for the final
time when the women's team welcomes in USC Upstate for a game
starting at 5:45 p.m. on Monday. The game will also be Senior Day
for Campbell's three seniors (Kristin
Graham, Marlena Murphy and
Maggie Rich). The game is the first of a
basketball doubleheader with the men's team set to take on East
Tennessee State at 8:15 p.m.
"We have a
lot of mixed emotions about tonight," head coach Wanda Watkins explained. "It is our Senior Night and in
a sense it is Senior Night for all of us with this being the last
game at Carter Gym. Obviously tonight will be a history-making
event and a part of me is a bit sentimental. Hopefully we get
through the expected early emotions. Our senior class has been a
great representative of this university both on and off the court
for the last four years. I know that we will make every effort to
play our hearts out in every sense of the word for them and also
for all us with this being our last chance to shine at Carter
Gym."
The Camels and Spartans met earlier this season for the
first time ever with CU winning 84-70. The 84 points for Campbell
were a season-high and the most points scored since the team put up
85 against Jacksonville on Jan. 14, 2006. Senior Marlena Murphy was dominating with 24 points and 18
rebounds. Sophomore Ashley Williamson
also performed well with a career-high 18 points and nine
rebounds
On Saturday, the Camels (10-16, 5-8 A-Sun) went into the
break only trailing conference-leader East Tennessee State by only
four points but were outscored 42-29 in a 78-61 loss to the Lady
Buccaneers. Freshman Lauren Yesh had a
career-high 15 points to lead CU. Yesh also tied for the team lead
with three assists and registered two steals, which were both
career bests.
Murphy is
averaging 12.6 points and 10 rebounds per game to lead the Camels.
Murphy is also the conference leader in rebounding and ranks 16th
in the NCAA. Rich is second on the team at 7.6 points an outing.
Junior guard Lauren Arthur is averaging
10.2 points a game over the last six games. Junior Jessica Mack has
scored in double figures in four of the last five games.
USC
Upstate (5-22, 1-13 A-Sun) fell to Gardner-Webb, 65-45 on Saturday.
Sophomore guard Courtney Hawkins, as she
has done for most of the season, led the team with 18 points.
Hawkins also pulled down six rebounds and handed out five
assists.
On the year, Hawkins
leads the team and ranks second in the A-Sun in scoring at 15.4
points a game. Hawkins is also third in the league in steals
(2.40), sixth in free-throw shooting (.787) and ninth in
three-point percentage (.330). Junior Ebony
Johnson is the team's second option at 8.2 points a game
and ranks fifth in the league in rebounding 7.1.
Overall, USC Upstate are 10th in the league in
scoring at 55.3 points a game. The Spartans are also a steady
free-throw shooting team (.672) and knocked down on average nearly
five threes an outing (4.74) The Camels are the best overall
rebounding team in the conference at nearly 42 rebounds a game
(41.2). CU is also fourth in league in defense (62.8) and seventh
in scoring (58.4).
The game
can be heard live through a web broadcast on Campbell's website,
GoCamels.com as Campbell broadcaster Clint
Oftedahl calls the game. At game time, live stats and
video will also be run on the website.
Next,
Campbell starts on its final road trip of the regular season and
heads to Nashville, Tenn. to take Belmont on Feb. 28 at 5 p.m.
CST.
