BUIES CREEK, N.C. – A double-double from Bronaza Fitzgerald led UNC Asheville to a 60-52 win over Campbell on Tuesday evening inside Gore Arena.
Fitzgerald posted a game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds, including nine on the defensive glass. Ten different Bulldogs scored to propel UNC Asheville (4-8, 1-0) to the eight-point win.
Campbell (7-5, 0-1) had a pair of double-figure scorers, led by
MaKala Rouse's 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Ashlyn Hampton posted her first double-digit scoring performance of the season, putting away 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
The Camels led by double-digits at the half, 31-19, but the Bulldogs outscored CU 20-9 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to just one point, 40-39. Fitzgerald went a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor in the third period, scoring 12 points to lead the Bulldogs.
Jessica Wall scored seven in the fourth period to pace the visitors, which outscored CU by nine, 21-12, to pick up the win. With the game knotted at 43-43 with 8:29 left, Asheville used an 11-4 run to take an eight-point lead with 2:46 left.
Campbell only trailed once in the first half, 2-1, before a 13-4 run put the Camels ahead by eight, 14-6, with 2:26 left in the first quarter.
The lead stretched to as many as 14 in the first half at 31-17 with 29 ticks left in second period. CU used seven different scorers during the opening 20 minutes, led by
Sarah Smith's seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
Campbell held a 34-24 advantage in the paint, but Asheville converted 14 turnovers into 23 points, while CU scored seven off of 13 Bulldogs turnovers.
The visitors also grabbed 11 offensive boards that they turned into 15 second chance points, while Campbell scored just two points on eight offensive boards.
The Camels held a slight shooting advantage, scoring 41.2-percent (21-of-51) from the floor, including a season-high 8-of-10 in the first quarter. UNC Asheville knocked down 40-percent of its shots (20-of-50) in the win.
Campbell heads to Rock Hill, S.C. on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest at Winthrop.
