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ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Sarah Smith's putback layup at the buzzer rolled off the rim as Winthrop held on to claim a 50-49 victory over Campbell on Sunday in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Amanda Coffer led the Lady Camels (7-11, 2-7 BSC) with 12 points and 12 rebounds, her sixth double-double of the season.
Jessica Pone tallied nine points with a career-high nine rebounds to finish just shy of a double-double. MaKala Rouse matched Pone's nine points and tallied six rebounds. Qua Brown and Sarah Smith each finished with six points.
An Aliyah Kilpatrick free throw gave the Eagles (3-15, 2-7) a 48-44 lead with 2:11 to play. Rouse answered with a crucial three pointer two possessions later to cut the deficit to 48-47 with 1:04 on the clock.
The Lady Camels forced an Eagle turnover with 32 seconds on the clock and still down by one. On the other end, Pone missed the go-ahead three pointer but Coffer collected the offensive rebound. Smith received a pass and her short jumper was blocked into the hands of Pone, who went up for the layup and was fouled. Pone hit both free throws to put CU ahead 49-48 with 10 seconds to play.
The Eagles advanced the ball to their side of the court with a timeout. Kilpatrick received a long pass under the basket and was fouled on a layup attempt. Kilpatrick hit both free throws to put WU up 50-49 with eight seconds to play.
CU raced up the court and Rouse took a three pointer with three seconds on the clock. Smith received the offensive rebound and put up the contested putback layup, which went halfway down and rolled out as time expired.
Erica Williams led Winthrop with a double-double at 16 points and 20 rebounds. Kilpatrick also tallied 16 points with nine rebounds while Naima Jackson added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Campbell matched its best rebounding performance this season with 51, but was topped by Winthrop's 52 boards. The Eagles out-scored the Lady Camels 28-14 in the paint while CU's bench scored 21 and nobody scored of the WU bench.
The Lady Camel defense held the Eagles scoreless for the first 4:30 of the game, but the score stood tied at 4-4 at the first media timeout with 4:46 to play in the first period. Back-to-back buckets by Coffer pushed the CU lead to 12-6 with two minutes to play in the opening frame. A Rouse three with a minute remaining in the period gave the Lady Camels a 15-9 advantage after one.
A 7-0 spurt gave the Lady Camels their first double-digit advantage of the game at 24-13 midway through the second period. The Campbell offense sputtered following the run and went scoreless for the next five minutes.
The Eagles were only able to capitalize with four points during the drought and a Coffer free throw with 29 seconds remaining in the period sent the Lady Camels to the halftime locker room with a 25-17 lead.
After trading the first eight points of the second half, the Lady Camel lead stood at eight (29-21) with 7:30 to play in the third. A quick 4-0 spurt for the Eagles cut the CU lead to 29-25 with 5:45 on the clock and force a Campbell timeout.
A Williams basket brought the Eagles within two, but back-to-back buckets by Rouse and Brown pushed CU's lead to 35-29 with 2:21 to play in the third. A Kilpatrick layup with 20 seconds to play in the period capped an 8-1 run to end the frame and gave Winthrop its first lead of the game at 37-36 heading to the fourth.
The Lady Camels will be back in action Tuesday night on the road at Charleston Southern. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
