Monday, January 06, 2003

Kari Campbell's free throw with 18.7 seconds left lifted Lipscomb to a 57-56 victory over Valparaiso on Monday evening in Nashville, Tenn.

Valpo rallied from a 12 point second half deficit and tied the game at 56 on a Jeanette Gray (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) lay-in with 36.8 seconds left before the Lady Bisons free throws at the end.

Jamie Gutowski (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean H.S.) had a chance to win the game for the Crusaders but her shot in the closing seconds rimmed out.

Valpo trailed by one, 23-22, at halftime in a low scoring half in which neither team mounted a big lead. Lipscomb held a 20-13 advantage with 4:07 to play in the stanza before Valpo went on a 9-0 run capped off by Gray's conventional three-point play.

The Lady Bisons scored the first ten points of the second half as part of a 12-1 run to build a 35-23 lead with 15:54 left in the game before Valpo began to rally.

Suzie Hammel (Lafayette, Ind./Lebanon H.S.) capped off a 10-0 Crusader run with a three-pointer to close within two. The lead eventually went back to six before Gutowski drained back-to-back threes to tie the game at 43 with 9:10 left in the game.

Lipscomb (5-9) scored the next seven points to retake the lead before Valpo made its final run.

Gutowski and Gray led Valpo with 13 points each. Gray also grabbed ten boards, while Jenna Stangler (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville H.S.) tied her career high with nine rebounds. Katie Boone (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove H.S.) dished out six assists for the Brown and Gold.

Courtney Boynton led Lipscomb with 16 points while Katie Beth Pate added 12 points and ten boards.

Both teams struggled from the free throw line, with Valpo shooting just 8-of-15 (53.3%) for the game while Lipscomb was 4-of-10 (40%).

The Crusaders (7-6) will open Mid-Con action on Saturday afternoon against Western Illinois at home. Tip-off is slated for 2:05 p.m.