Buies Creek, N.C. - Sophomore guard Kerri Simpson (Charleston, Tenn.) tied career highs with 18 points and seven rebounds on 50 percent shooting, but a cold shooting day for the rest of the Hatters doomed Stetson (3-14, 3-5 Atlantic Sun) in a 61-46 loss at league rival Campbell (9-7, 4-3 A-Sun) Saturday at Gore Arena. Junior center Natasha Graboski (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) also set career highs with 10 rebounds and four blocks to go along with eight points.
The Hatters shot just 19-68 (.279) from the floor and a frigid 1-18 (.056) from three-point land this afternoon; Simpson and fellow sophomore guard Lyllique Roman (Poinciana, Fla.) combined to knock down 12 of Stetson's 19 field goals. Roman finished with 11 points, one shy of her career and season high. The loss continued Stetson's historic struggles in Buies Creek; the Hatters have lost 13 straight matchups at Campbell dating back to January 20, 1996.
Stetson controlled the tempo for much of the first 10 minutes, taking advantage of nine Lady Camel turnovers to jump out to a 13-5 lead halfway through the first period. The Hatters would go the next six minutes without a field goal, however, allowing Campbell to hang around. Stetson led nearly the entire first half until a Lauren Yesh basket with 14 seconds left allowed the home team to take a 20-19 lead into the locker room.
Campbell would go on to score the first 11 points of the second half, seizing permanent control, then pushed the lead to as many as 24 points (52-28) with 8:16 remaining. All told, the Lady Camels outscored the Hatters 36-9 from the 2:55 mark of the first half until 8:16 - 14 minutes and 39 seconds of scoreboard time. Stetson then went on a 14-1 run of its own to cut the deficit to 53-42 with 3:15 remaining but then ran out of gas as Campbell went six-for-six from the foul line in the waning minutes.
Simpson and junior forward Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla.) finished with three steals each while Roman had a team-high two assists. Courtney Cannon (12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists) and Amanda O'Neill (12 points) scored in double figures for Campbell while Yesh pulled down 10 rebounds and point guard Kate Cloxton dished out six assists.
Stetson returns home for Think Pink/Pack the House Night, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of DeLand, this Thursday at 7 p.m. against A-Sun foe Mercer at the Edmunds Center. Live Stats and Hatter Vision are available as always at www.GoHatters.com.
