BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Candace Brown scored 17 points and hauled down seven rebounds and the Gardner-Webb women's basketball team shot 50% in the second half and 6-of-9 from downtown as it defeated Campbell 68-59 in a Big South Conference women's basketball matchup Monday evening in Paul Porter Arena.
With the victory, Gardner-Webb improves to 14-8 overall and 8-4 in Big South play, while Campbell falls to 8-13 and 3-9 in the BSC.
The Runnin' Bulldogs led 31-28 at the halftime break as GWU shot 40.0% in the first half on 10-of-25 from the floor, while Campbell connected on 12-of-24 from the field, but the second half GWU hit 50.0% of its attempts and limited the Lady Camels to 9-of-26 in the second 20 minutes.
Brown led the big second half for GWU, scoring 11 of her 17 points in the second half and Tierra Huntsman also added 11 of her 16 points in the second half, including knocking down three shots from behind the three-point arc.
Gardner-Webb outrebounded Campbell 34-24 for the game including hauling down 11 offensive boards compared to just six for the Camels. The Runnin' Bulldogs also doubled up the Camels in free-throw attempts as GWU was 15-of-22 from the charity stripe, while Campbell hit just 8-of-11.
Alexus Hill also was in double-figures with 11 for GWU and Alicia Quinn grabbed a game and career-high 11 boards. Amanda Coffer paced the Camels with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Raechaun Edwards dished out a game-high seven assists for Campbell.
Jessica Pone drilled a three and Coffer scored a layup as Campbell jumped out to a quick 5-0 advantage, but Kierra Currie scored three of her career-high nine points and Quinn followed with a layup as both teams were tied at five with 7:42 to go in the first.
Huntsman hit two free-throws to put GWU ahead and the Runnin' Bulldogs held the lead for the remainder of the quarter, holding a 16-13 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
Sarah Smith put Campbell back ahead 20-18, but GWU grabbed the lead back and would go into the halftime break up 31-28.
Summer Price went 2-of-2 from the charity stripe midway through the third quarter to cut the GWU lead to four (35-31), but Hill and Currie made back-to-back three points to start a 10-1 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs over the next three minutes to bust the game wide open.
The Runnin' Bulldogs shot 64.3% in the third quarter on 9-of-14 from the floor, including hitting 4-of-6 from behind the three-point arc and held Campbell to just 21.4% shooting as Gardner-Webb outscored Campbell 22-9 in the third quarter.
Campbell slowly cut down the defecit and would get as close as 58-54 on a three-pointer by Coffee with 3:31 left in regulation, but GWU answered with a 8-0 run to put the game away and the Runnin' Bulldogs snapped a two-game losing streak with the 68-56 victory.
Gardner-Webb returns to action Saturday and looks to avenge an early season-loss to Winthrop, when it faces the Eagles at 1:30 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena.
