BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Jasmine Dale made a pair of free throws with four seconds left to help Gardner-Webb secure a 56-54 comeback victory against Campbell on Thursday afternoon. Junior D Janelle Brown (Oklahoma City, Okla.) had a look at a three-point attempt at the end, but the shot was off line.
The Lady Camels (9-8, 4-4 Big South) and Bulldogs (10-7, 5-3 Big South) played at 11 a.m. to allow 2,318 elementary school students to fill Paul Porter Arena on Education Day.
Gardner-Webb made one jumper over the final five minutes, but erased a six-point Campbell advantage, 52-46, by sinking eight free throws. There were four mistakes by the Lady Camels during the stretch that provided the Bulldogs with an opportunity to come back.
With Campbell clinging to a 54-52 lead with two minutes left, senior forwards Roslyn Presley (Petersburg, Va.) and Ashley James (Round Rock, Texas) pulled down offensive rebounds to wind down the clock to under a minute, but a turnover and eventual foul enabled the Bulldogs to pull even on the charity stripe.
Sophomore guard RaeChaun Edwards (Spring Grove, Va.) paced the Lady Camels with 14 points followed by Presley and junior guard Kiera Gaines (Mechanicsville, Va.) with 13 and 12, respectively. All seven players that checked into the game scored at least two points.
Campbell used a 23-7 run that spanned both halves to push the advantage to 38-24 with 18:21 left. The Bulldogs were held without a made field goal over a 10 minute stretch.
Gardner-Webb was led by Dale with 14, while Catrina Green (13) and Jessica Heilig (12) also hit double digits. A game-high 13 rebounds were registered by Green.
The Bulldogs controlled the glass by holding a 37-33 edge, despite the Lady Camels pulling down 14 rebounds on the offensive end.
As a team, Campbell shot 39.7 pct. overall, but was 3-for-15 from beyond the three-point arc. The Bulldogs registered a 9-of-19 (47.4 pct.) shooting performance in the second half to finish at 39.1 pct.
Free throws proved to be key as GWU was 16-24 from the line, while Campbell was 5-11. Green paced the Bulldogs by going 7-of-12.
Prior to the second media timeout in the first half the teams were tied at nine, GWU made a run to take the lead 21-9 with just over nine minutes remaining. The 12-0 run was aided by a pair of treys from Dale and Lana Doran, while a layup by Heilig was the final one for the Bulldogs during the half.
A three pointer from Edwards ended a four-minute scoreless stretch and began a 19-2 run going into halftime for the Lady Camels. The first bucket for Presley at 6:04 jumpstarted an 8-0 run for Campbell over a 70 second span that included a pair of buckets in transition by Edwards, who had a team high 11 points at the break.
Campbell returns to Gore Arena/John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center on Thursday against Winthrop with the tip set for 7 p.m.
