MACON, Ga. Senior
Maggie Rich's two free throws with five seconds
left iced Campbell's 53-49 victory over Mercer at the University
Center on Saturday evening.
Senior Marlena Murphy led the Campbell offensive effort with
12 points. Murphy also pulled down six rebounds. Rich chipped in 10
points including the two clutch free throws in crunch time. Rich
also pulled in six rebounds as did freshman Lauren
Yesh and junior Lauren
Arthur.
After trailing by as
many as 11 in the first half, CU (10-13, 5-5 A-Sun) took its first
lead of the second on a three from senior Rich. The Camels extended
the lead to eight on a three from sophomore Kelly
Hufstedler at 45-37. Hufstedler would end her evening with
eight points off the bench.
Mercer (4-19, 1-9
A-Sun) chipped the lead back down to four on made three-pointer
from Sarah Russell at 49-45. After Murphy's layup at the 3:19 mark
of the second half the Camels went cold from the field and went the
rest of the evening without a point until Rich's clutch free
throws. The Bears' Megan Lewis and Russell both hit both their free
throws to take the lead down to two and set up Rich's heroics.
The Camels trailed at
the break by a 26-22 margin. Murphy led the scoring effort for CU
with six points.
CU, who came into the
game shooting 61 percent from the free throw line, had a perfect
evening from the charity stripe at 9-for-9. Campbell also went
20-of-56 from the floor (35 percent) and 29 percent (4-for-14) from
three-point range. CU also out-rebounded the Bears 42-31.
CU now returns home to
host Kennesaw State on Monday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
Notes: The Camels now
leads the all-time series with Mercer 21-10 ... the 10 wins for
Campbell this season are the most for the program since the 2001-02
season when they won 13.