Women's Hoops Falls Just Short of MSC Tourney Title; Await NAIA Bracket Release

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - With both the Mid-South Conference Championship and an automatic berth in the upcoming NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship on the line, Georgetown College and Campbellsville University took to the floor at Studle Financial Arena in a battle of the Tigers for the crown. Georgetown put up a valiant fight, and they had a chance to tie or win the game at the end, but the orange and black came up just an eyelash short.

Georgetown (22-11) fell behind early, but a big second half gave them a chance. In the end though, NAIA No. 5 Campbellsville (29-4) managed to hold off the rally as Georgetown fell 70-68.

Campbellsville opened the game on a 7-2 run, but Georgetown fought back to tie the score at 8-8 on a trey from Grace White with just less than four minutes to play in the opening stanza. Campbellsville immediately answered to reclaim the lead, then they finished the frame on a 10-2 run that gave the maroon and gray a 20-12 lead after 10 minutes of action.

GC whittled the deficit down early in the second frame, but a 12-0 CU run helped the Tigers open a 17-point advantage with 2:12 to play in the opening half. The orange and black closed the half on a 6-0 spurt, but at intermission, Campbellsville led comfortably, 37-26.

In the third period, the momentum began to shift. Another 6-0 run in the middle stages of the quarter helped Georgetown pull within five at 43-38, and when the dust settled on the period, Georgetown trailed by just seven, 52-45.

Campbellsville opened the final stanza and tried to put the game away, as they stretched their lead out to 14 points with less than three minutes gone in the period, but Georgetown pushed back. The Tigers in black got back-to-back 3-pointers from AJ Stevenson, and that ignited a 12-2 run that helped cut the deficit to 64-60 with 3:50 to go in regulation. Madison Darnell got the Tigers to within two at the 1:15 mark with a bucket, and after a pair of made free throws from Campbellsville, Jazzmyn Elston with 11 seconds left pulled Georgetown to within a single basket at 70-68. Georgetown forced a turnover on the ensuing inbound play, and they got two cracks at extending the game, but a pair of blocked shots by CU ended the game in a two-point GC defeat.

Darnell led the Tigers with 18 points and six rebounds in the game, and Elston added 15 tallies. White netted 13, Callie Jackson added 11, and Stevenson finished with 10 points. White notched six assists and a pair of steals as well.

Georgetown made 27 of 61 (44.3%) shots in the contest, but they were just 3-for-17 (17.6%) from long distance. At the foul line, the Tigers also struggled, making only 11 of 18 (61.1%) attempts.

Georgetown must now wait and hope that their resume is strong enough to get one of the at-large berths into the NAIA national tournament. The tournament is set to begin at campus sites for the second year in a row, and those sites are slated to tip-off on Friday March 11, and the bracket is set to be released on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. Eastern.