CONWAY, S.C. - Campbell shot 53.6 percent in the second half with a 15-0 run and forced 23 Winthrop turnovers in a 65-52 victory in the 2015 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon inside the HTC Center.
The Lady Camels (19-11) will now advance to Saturday's semifinals at 6:00 p.m. to square off against top-seeded Liberty (24-6), who defeated UNC Asheville 59-51 in the first quarterfinal on Thursday. Campbell advanced to the semifinals for the third straight season; only Liberty has accomplished the same feat among conference members over the last three years.
Summer Leverette and Amanda Coffer led the Lady Camels with 16 points apiece and Kiera Gaines finished with 15 of her own in the victory.
Redshirt junior RaeChaun Edwards, the Big South's leader in assists per game this season, also dished out a career-high 11 assists.
As a team, the Lady Camels shot 41 percent (25-of-61) from the floor in the game, including a 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) mark in the second half. Campbell knocked down nine of its 12 free throws (75 percent), with eight of those makes coming in the second frame.
Winthrop's Schaquilla Nunn led all scorers with 21 points and pulled down 20 boards as well for the Eagles (17-13). Erica Williams also tallied a double-doule for Winthrop with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The Eagles were held to just 22-of-73 (30.1 percent) shooting for the game and connected on just 12.6 percent (2-of-16) of their shots from beyond the arc.
Campbell fell into a 9-4 hole over the first five minutes of the contest as Williams scored six of Winthrop's opening points to pace the Eagles. The Lady Camels fired back, however, piecing together a 15-2 run with six points from Coffer and three-pointers from Leverette, Gaines and All-Freshman Team member Summer Price to take a 19-11 lead at the 8:12 mark.
Winthrop erased the Lady Camel advantage with four points from both Nunn and Aliyah Kilpatrick to knot the score at 19-19 with 5:25 remaining in the half, but Campbell responded with five unanswered points to deny the Eagles a chance to grab the lead.
Williams scored the final four points of the half for Winthrop, but Campbell entered the locker room with a slim 24-23 advantage.
Out of the halftime break, Nunn netted the first four points of the second half as Winthrop extended its run to eight unanswered points while taking a 27-24 lead at the 19:03 mark.
Trailing for the first time since midway through the first half, the Lady Camels took control of the contest over the next five minutes with a 15-0 run over the Eagles. Gaines led Campbell with six points during the run, Leverette had five points during the stretch, including one of her career-high four three-pointers, and Coffer converted a pair of layups, including the final basket of the spurt that gave Campbell a 39-27 lead with 14:33 to play.
Winthrop cut the Lady Camel advantage to seven points on three different occasions, but the Eagles were unable to close the gap any further. Campbell extended its lead to double figures for good on a layup by Edwards with 6:28 on the clock and held off the Eagles down the stretch for the victory.
Saturday's meeting with Liberty will be the third between the two sides this season. The Flames swept the regular season series, but Campbell fell by just seven points, 64-57, in the regular season finale for both sides last Saturday inside Gore Arena.
