Feb. 8, 2001

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford's Jennifer Lutrell missed the front end of a one-in-one with 1.1 seconds left and Campbell's Crystal Clary pulled down her 12th rebound of the game to give Campbell its 19th straight Trans America Athletic Conference victory at Seibert Hall 58-57 over Samford.

Campbell is now 16-4 on the season and 12-0 in the TAAC. The Camels last TAAC loss came at Seibert Hall on Feb. 19, 2000. Samford drops to 5-15 and 4-7 in the TAAC despite a career-high 22 point performance from freshman Sarah Clement.

"Sarah had the game of her life tonight," said Samford head coach Janet Cone. "I thought our effort was 100% better than it had been in our last game. All I can ask for as a coach is to give that kind of effort and be there at the end of the game with a chance to win. We gave ourselves a chance tonight and now we need to build on this effort."

The Bulldogs, who lost by 33 points at Campbell on Jan. 20, gave themselves a chance by committing a season-low 15 turnovers and playing a tough 2-1-2 full court defense to slow the Camels down. Campbell came into the game averaging 72 points per game. "The press was something we put in just for them," said Cone. "They had not seen that from us and I think it slowed them down. They like to come out running and get a big lead. I was very happy with the way we played defensively tonight."

Clement, who was 9-16 from the floor and 4-6 from 3-point range, opened the game with a 3-pointer to give Samford the early lead. Campbell responded with an 18-6 run which gave the Camels their largest lead of the game at 18-9 with 12:37 left in the first half. Samford answered with a 23-8 run over the next eight minutes to take a 29-26 lead with 4:30 to play. The Camels closed out the half on a 4-0 run to take a 30-29 lead into halftime.

The second half was tight through out. Campbell built a 50-44 lead with 7:39 to play but Lutrell scored two of her 10 points to bring the Bulldogs back to within four points. Samford tied the game at 51-51 with 6:10 on another Clement 3-point shot. Campbell immediately answered with a 5-0 run to lead 56-51 a the 4:08 mark. Samford clawed back once again as Suzette Pittman scored two of her 10 points with 44 seconds to play to bring the score to 58-57.

Both teams exchanged turnovers before Campbell's April Cromartie who had a team-high 17 points and 13 rebounds stepped up to the free throw line with 18 seconds on the clock. She missed the one-and-one and Samford's Cortney Moore pulled down the rebound. On Samford's final possession Lutrell drove into the lane and was fouled in what appeared to be the act of shoot but the officials only awarded her the one-and-one.

"Jen Lutrell had a great game," said Cone. "I wish it had not ended like that. I would have rather it had been an outside jump shot. It is hard to stand there all by yourself, but I though Jen (Lutrell), "Noot" (Pittman), and the six or seven players we played tonight all played very well."

The Bulldogs shot 43 percent from the floor and 33 percent from 3-point range, but were only 2-6 from the free throw line. Campbell shot 49 percent from the floor but were only 4-11 from the foul line. The Camels out-rebounded the Bulldogs 38-28.

Both teams will return to action on Saturday as Campbell travels to Jacksonville State and Samford will entertain Georgia State at 2 p.m. at Seibert Hall.