CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Campbell begins its postseason journey in the Big South Championship Thursday with a 12:00 p.m. tip-off against Presbyterian in the quarterfinal at Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte. Mike Gleason and Ralph Patterson will serve as broadcasters on the ESPN+ broadcast.
The winner between the one-seeded Camels (21-6, 15-3) and 8th-seeded Blue Hose (13-17, 6-12) will advance to Saturday's 6 p.m. semifinal against the winner of 4th seed Gardner-Webb (15-14, 13-5) and 5th seed High Point (18-13, 13-5)
LAST TIME OUT
- In her final home game, Taya Bolden scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Campbell to a 60-53 win in overtime over High Point last Saturday at Gore Arena
- Campbell claimed its second Big South Conference regular season title in three years by holding the Panthers 0-of-4 from the field in the overtime period. Coach Ronny Fisher's squad secured at least a berth in the Women's NIT
- The Camels earned the top seed in next week's Big South Championship at Bojangles' Arena in Charlotte
A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD
- Be the 770th win in program history (769-578)
- Be head coach Ronny Fisher's 215th career win (214-203)
- Be Fisher's 118th win at Campbell (117-59)
- Be Fisher's ninth Big South tournament win (8-8)
- Be Campbell's 25th Big South tournament win (24-20)
SCOUTING THE BLUE HOSE
- Defeated 9-seeded Winthrop 65-60 in first round action on Tuesday
- Winners of three straight
- Led by fifth-year senior forward and Big South honorable mention selection Jade Compton who averages a team-high 16.1 points and 6.9 rebounds
- Ranked 2nd in the Big South shooting 72.6% from the charity stripe. Also ranked 2nd in the conference averaging 15.2 offensive boards per game
- Led by fourth-year head coach Alaura Sharp
SERIES HISTORY (Campbell leads 13-8)
- 22nd all-time meeting, first in the Big South tournament
- Campbell has won seven-straight in the series and is 10-1 against the Blue Hose under head coach Ronny Fisher
- The last three contests have been exceedingly close: the Camels have won all three games on go-ahead buckets with less than three seconds remaining. Last season Shy Tuelle hit a buzzer-beating layup for a 62-61 victory. She followed it up the next day by hitting a free three with 0.7 seconds to go for a 59-58 win.
- This season, Faith Price hit a three with 2.7 seconds to go to propel Campbell to a 58-55 win and its 11-straight win at the time
STAT SHEET LEADERS
IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
- 4th in three-point FG% defense - 24.3%
- 7th in scoring defense - 52.4
- 26th in assists per game - 16.1
- 27th in scoring margin - 13.6
- 39th in three-pointers per game - 7.9
- Bolden ranks 14th in the nation with 16 double-doubles and 30th averaging 10.2 boards
- Price ranks 11th making 2.9 threes per game and 13th shooting 42.9% from behind the arc
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
- Taya Bolden earned first team all-conference honors while Luana Serranho was named to the second team
- Bolden was also voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year, marking the second-straight season a Campbell player has earned the award
PRESBYTERIAN CONNECTION
- The Camels have several ties to the Presbyterian program, most notably in head coach Ronny Fisher who worked as an assistant with the men's basketball program from 1990-93 and again from 2000-07 before being promoted to associate head coach in 2007-08
- After 11 seasons as an assistant for the men's team, Fisher took over as the head coach of the women's program for eight seasons (2008-16), earning winning seasons in three of his last four years with the Blue Hose
- Director of Operations Kaycie Reffner (2013-17 and Director of Player Personnel/Video Operations Sherece Smith (2010-14) both played at Presbyterian under Fisher
BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- Campbell is 21-16 in the conference tournament all-time, winning once under legendary head coach Wanda Watkins in 1989
- The Camels have made eight trips to the conference tournament finals including twice under head coach Ronny Fisher
- Last season Campbell defeated Winthrop and Longwood before falling to High Point in the tournament final
1K POINTS FOR TUELLE
- Shy Tuelle netted her 1,000 point with a last second three-pointer against Winthrop on Feb. 23
- Tuelle is the 20th Campbell player to break the 1K point barrier and the second to do so this season, joining Bolden
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
- Bolden was named to the Academic All-District III team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)
- The program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field or court and in the classroom
- Bolden, a criminal justice major, is the fourth player in program history to earn the distinction and first since 2011
BOLDEN SETS REBOUNDING RECORD
- Bolden became Campbell's all-time leading rebounder with her 1,114 board against Longwood on Feb. 5. She surpassed the previous record of 1,113 set by April Cromartie (1998-02)
- The redshirt-senior has the second-most boards in Big South history at 1,197
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
- Faith Price has been one of the best shooters from behind the arc in the Big South this season
- The junior guard has made at least one three-pointer in all but one game this season and has made 3 or more threes in 14 of 23 games
- She averages a league-best 2.9 threes per game, ranking 12th nationally and is shooting 42.9% (64-of-149) from range ranking 13th in the nation
DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
- Taya Bolden is averaging a double-double behind 12.7 points and 10.2 boards per game
- Standing at just 5-10, Bolden ranks 14th nationally with 16 double-doubles this season
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
- Campbell ranks 7th nationally in scoring defense holding foes to an average of 52.4 points per game
- The Camels rank 4th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense holding foes to 24.3% shooting from behind the arc
- Campbell has held foes to under 40% shooting from the field in 18 of 27 games this season and has forced 15 or more turnovers in 19 games
TEAM EFFORT
- Campbell leads the Big South and rank 26th in the country averaging 16.1 assists per game
- The Camels are 16-0 when three or more players reach double-figures
HEAD COACH RONNY FISHER
- Enters his sixth season with Campbell (116-59 / .668) and 14th overall (213-203 / .512)
- In five seasons under Fisher, Campbell has won 96 games -- an average of 19 per year
- Campbell won the 2019-20 Big South regular season title and finished as Big South tournament runner-up in 2019 and 2021
- He has also led the Camels to two postseason appearances in the WBI, claiming their first ever postseason victory in route to the tournament semifinals to mark the first time a Big South team has reached the title prelim game.
- Fisher leads all active coaches in the Big South with 212 wins overall and 134 in conference play
- Received contract extension through the 2025-26 season in summer of 2021
- Won his 100th game at Campbell on Dec. 1, 2021 against South Carolina State
- Won his 200th career game on Jan. 1, 2022 against Gardner-Webb
- Served as head coach at Presbyterian for eight seasons (2008-16) before taking the Campbell job ahead of the 2016-17 season
