BUIES CREEK, N.C.-Campbell enters its final home weekend looking to
solidify its highest Atlantic Sun finish since 2001, beginning with
East Tennessee State on Thursday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
inside the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center.
Thursday's matchup will be in support of the Women's Basketball
Coaches Association's (WBCA) "Pink Zone," formerly known as "Think
Pink," a global, unified effort for the WBCA nation of coaches to
assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across
campuses, in communities and beyond.
Admission
for this night will be free and donations will be accepted to
benefit Relay 4 Life. The Campbell University Pharmacy School will
be providing several services including Body Mass Index and Blood
Pressure checks. Kappa Epsilon will also be in attendance with a
booth providing education information on breast cancer awareness.
During halftime, all cancer survivors in attendance will be
recognized at mid-court. For more information on this event,
please contact Kevin Lyle, Assistant AD for
Marketing and Promotions, at lylek@campbell.edu.
The Lady Camels, at 14-11 and 9-7 in A-Sun play, are coming off one
of their season's most meaningful wins, defeating Mercer 66-60 in
Buies Creek last Saturday to break a tie with the Bears in the
league standings and put Campbell in position for the A-Sun
Tournament's (March 3-6 in Macon, Ga.) No. 2 seed.
Senior center Ashley Williamson vaulted
Campbell to its 14th win of the season, a program high
since 2001, posting a season-high 18 points with 10 rebounds in a
crucial win against Mercer. The double-double was Williamson's
fifth in six games, the seventh of the season and the 11th of her
career. In the first half of the 66-60 win, Williamson, Campbell's
lone four-year senior, also pulled down her 500th career rebound,
becoming the 17th Lady Camel to accomplish the feat. Williamson has
averaged 11.5 points and 10.3 rebounds since beginning the second
half of A-Sun play (last six games).
Sophomore
guard Kate Cloxton also tied a
career-high with nine assists in the win. Freshman post Jazmine
Cooper also reached double figures with a season-high 12 points
to go along with four boards, adding a steal. Sophomore guard Amanda
O'Neill chipped in 12 points with four boards and four
steals.
The win was Campbell's 14th of the season, the most
since 2000-01, while the team's nine A-Sun wins marks the most
since 2005-06 (10). If the Lady Camels hold on to the No. 2 seed,
it will be their highest since 2001, when Campbell took the
tourney's top seed, coming two points shy of its second-straight
conference championship, falling 64-62 to Georgia State.
ETSU (16-8, 14-2 A-Sun) has already locked up the No. 1 seed in
next month's tournament, doing so in an 18-point, 81-63 win over
Kennesaw State on Saturday. The Buccaneers have represented the
A-Sun in the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years.
ETSU boasts the league's top offense at 78.0 points per game,
however, rank at the bottom in scoring defense, allowing 73.5
points a contest. The Bucs also bring in two of the top-three
scorers in the A-Sun, in senior guard TaRhonda Wiles (18.5 ppg) and
reigning Player of the Year Siarre Evans (16.0 ppg). All five ETSU
starters rank among the league's top-20. Evans is also second in
the A-Sun in rebounding at 10.4 boards per game, one of three in
the conference to average a double-double.
The Lady Camels will play their final home game of the year on
Saturday against USC Upstate. Lady Camel seniors Ashley
Williamson and Geami Britt will be honored
before the game.