Rachel Oswald’s 20-point, 10-rebound double-double led No. 5-seeded Columbia (Mo.) College to a 64-60 first-round win over No. 4-seeded Campbellsville (Ky.) University Thursday morning at the 29 th Annual NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship.
Columbia led for all but 41 seconds through the final 13:54 of the game, and the Cougars held Campbellsville scoreless over the final two-and-a-half minutes to hold on for the victory. The Campbellsville Lady Tigers took one-point leads (56-55 and 58-57) twice in a span of less than a minute on baskets from Whitney Ballinger, who finished with a game-high 27 points. However, Columbia answered Ballinger’s bucket with 4:41 to play just 14 seconds later with Fiona Sparks’ only basket of the game just 14 seconds later. When Ballinger scored again with 3:44 left, Oswald responded with the first of back-to-back field goals in the paint with 3:17 remaining to push the Cougars back out in front.
Ballinger led all scorers with 27 points, and she added nine rebounds for the Tigers, who also got a 17-rebound effort from Jarobia Hill en route to a 46-40 rebounding edge. Courtney Danis was Campbellsville’s only other player in double figures, tallying 13 points with a game-high five assists. Campbellsville made just two three-pointers in the game, shooting from long range at a .133 (two-for-15) clip.