ROCK HILL, S.C. – Despite three Lady Camels recording double-doubles and a 10-point comeback to close the game, Campbell fell to Winthrop Tuesday night, 61-59, at Winthrop Coliseum.
Campbell falls to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the Big South, still seeking its first win on the road. Winthrop stands at 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the league.
After no double-doubles for any Lady Camel this season, sophomore Amanda Coffer and seniors Kiera Gaines and Summer Leverette each had double-digit points and rebounds.
Coffer led CU with 19 points, tied for the game high, and added a career-high 11 rebounds with two blocks and steals. She was 8-for-14 from the field and 5-of-5 from three, in her fourth-straight game leading CU.
Gaines posted a game-high 14 rebounds with 15 points on 4-for-9 shooting, going 1-of 2 from beyond the arc and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe. She added two assists, a block, and a steal.
Leverette earned her first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, shooting 4-for-9 from the floor, 1-for-2 from three, and 2-for-2 from the line.
For Winthrop, Erica Williams tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Eagles in each category.
Campbell shot 22-of-63 from the floor (35.5 pct.), 7-of-21 from three (33.3 pct.), and 8-for-12 (66.7 pct.) from the free throw line. The Eagles shot 24-of-69 (34.8 pct.), going 5-for-19 (26.3 pct.) from three and 8-for-17 (47.1 pct.) from the line.
Winthrop took its largest lead of the game, 56-45, with 5:44 to go in the second half. After a CU timeout, Coffer put up a three with 4:32 to go, cutting the score to 56-48.
The Lady Camels followed with two free throws each from Gaines and Leverette to put CU within four, 56-52, with just over two minutes remaining.
CU's defense held Winthrop without a basket for over four minutes before an Aliyah Kilpatrick jumper out the Eagles ahead, 58-52, with 1:40 to go.
A Summer Price steal then led to a Gaines layup 17 seconds later, and a Leverette jumper with 44 seconds to go put the Lady Camels within two, 58-56.
The Campbell defense forced Williams to take a shot with one tick left on the shot clock, which she made fading away on the baseline with 16 seconds left, to lead 60-56.
Ten seconds later, redshirt junior RaeChaun Edwards put down a three, cutting the score to 60-59, and a CU foul put Naima Jackson on the line. She made one of two free throws with six seconds left, and a last-second Edwards three bounced off the rim as the Eagles took their first league win of the season, 61-59.
The teams were locked at 11 eight minutes into the first half after Edwards put in a layup to tie the game.
However, the Eagles used an 8-2 jump across four minutes, led by Williams with five points, to take the 19-13 lead with 8:02 left in the half, and held the advantage to the break.
Campbell came within one, 19-18, after an Edwards layup and Price three at the 7:06 mark, but it was as close as the Lady Camels could get to the Eagles in the half.
With 4:38 to go in the opening frame, Leverette drained a three pointer to close the gap to a 25-23 WU lead, but the Lady Camels suffered an 0-for-5 drought spanning nearly four minutes, during which the Eagles tacked on four points.
Gaines ended the drought, putting in a free throw with 49 seconds before the break. Winthrop's last basket of the half was a Pamela Decheva three at the 30-second mark, and Gaines put in a layup with six seconds remaining.
Each team shot 33.3 pct. in the first half, Campbell going 10-of-30 and Winthrop shooting 13-of-39 from the floor. The Lady Camels committed nine fouls to the Eagles' five.
The Lady Camels will take an 11-day break before traveling to Charleston Southern on Saturday, Dec. 13 for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
