BUIES CREEK, NC—Winthrop's women found out why Campbell ranks as the nation's top defensive team as the Eagles fell 61-32 to the Camels on Tuesday night at Gore Arena.
The loss extends Winthrop's streak to 16 straight this season and is the 27 consecutive loss away from home. The Eagles are now 1-16 overall and 0-5 in the Big South while Campbell improves to 12-4 and 4-1 as it has now won eight of its last nine games.
Campbell entered the game allowing only 37 points per game and improved on that figure as the Camels held Winthrop to 30 percent shooting (14-47) and capitalized on 27 Eagle turnovers. The 32 points scored by Winthrop equals its lowest output of the season which occurred at Baylor back on Dec. 15.
Winthrop failed to place a player in double figures for the first time this season. Freshman point guard Danyael led the Eagles with nine points while
Erica Williams finished with eight after getting whistled for her third foul early in the second quarter. For the second straight game, Winthrop was unable to connect on a field goal from beyond the arc.
Similar to last Saturday's loss at Charleston Southern, it was a second quarter scoring drought and turnovers that proved costly for the Eagles. After trailing 18-12 after the first quarter, Winthrop missed its first four shots and turned the ball over eight times before
CiiCii Buford made a layup with two minutes left in the first half. By that time the Eagles trailed 34-14.
While the Eagles were struggling to score and take care of the ball, Campbell guard Summer Price connected on three 3-pointers and added a free throw to score 10 of her game-high 20 points in the second quarter. She gave her team a 37-16 lead with a three ball with 40 seconds remaining before halftime.
Winthrop did manage to outscore Campbell 8-5 in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 18 points (42-24) heading into the final quarter, but Campbell came out firing in the fourth quarter and outscored the Eagles 10-0 in the opening 2:09 to extend the lead to 28 points. The Camels connected on three more treys in the final period and finished the game with nine from behind the arc, including five by Price. For the game, Campbell shot 40 percent (22-55) and outrebounded Winthrop by 15 (44-29).
Winthrop will return home on Saturday to meet Presbyterian College at 1 p.m. as it tries to get on the winning track.