Eagles shooting for first conference win at Campbell
Winthrop is still looking for its first Big South Conference win this season and hoping to snap a 15-game losing streak when the Eagles travel to Campbell for a Tuesday night contest.
The game can be heard on 104.1 The Bridge and viewed on the Big South Network beginning at 7 p.m.
Winthrop goes into the game 1-15 overall and still in search of its first Division I victory of the season. Campbell has posted an 8-3 overall record and is 3-1 in Big South play
Winthrop and Campbell are meeting for the 35th time. The Fighting Camels hold a 24-10 lead in the series, but since Campbell rejoined the Big South Conference in 2011-12, Winthrop holds a 6-5 advantage. The teams split last year's two games with the Eagles claiming a 50-49 win at home and losing 69-56 on the road.
Campbell has gotten off to a surprisingly strong start this year under new head coach and former Presbyterian head man Ronnie Fisher. The Camels were picked eighth in the Big South preseason poll, but have won 7 of their last 8 games. The three losses have come against teams that Winthrop has also fallen to – Mercer, ETSU and Radford.
Campbell has defeated preseason league favorite UNC Asheville (61-55) on the road. The Camels feature a balanced offensive attack. Summer Price is the only player averaging in double figures (11.3). Five players are above 6.0 points per game.
Senior Erica Williams leads the Eagles in scoring, rebounding and assists with 13.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. She is coming off one of her best overall performances of the year as she narrowly missed the first triple-double of her career. She scored 15 points, grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds and dished out eight assists against CSU.
Williams ranks sixth on Winthrop's scoring list with 1,493 career points. She needs 58 more points to move past Winthrop Hall of Famer Stephanie Morris in fifth place. She has scored in double figures in 14 of the 16 games this season and recorded a career-high 28 points against College of Charleston on Nov. 16.
Even though they came out on the short end of the score, Winthrop has shown improvement in its last three games against Radford, preseason league favorite UNC Asheville, and CSU. The Eagles made a fourth quarter run at the Highlanders before losing 60-50, They led at halftime for just the second time this season before dropping a 68-53 decision to Asheville, and they trailed CSU by a bucket after one quarter, and then outscored the Buccaneers 18-11 in the fourth quarter..
Winthrop will be home on Saturday when the Eagles host Presbyterian at 1 p.m.
This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Eagles shooting for first conference win at Campbell."