Lady Lion defense upsets No. 2, vaults FHU to conference final

February 26, 2023

by Dustin Semore, FHU Sports Information Director

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The (RV) Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions stifled the No. 2 Campbellsville (Ky.) University Lady Tigers in Sunday's Mid-South Conference semifinal, holding the regular season champions to 24.5% shooting from the field. With FHU's 46-41 win, the Lady Lions will make their first appearance in the MSC Tournament championship.

After spotting the top-seeded Tigers a 3-pointer to start the game, Freed-Hardeman (22-9, 13-9 MSC) had Raegan Purvine notch back-to-back jumpers to put the Lady Lions on top in the early goings. After a set of CU buckets, Kalea Fleming's triple knotted the game 7-7 with 6:00 remaining in the opening quarter. Kelsey Bender would join Purvine in the paint to end the quarter with three straight layups, but a Campbellsville 3-pointer had the Tigers on top after 10 minutes 14-13.

Campbellsville's (28-2, 21-1 MSC) largest lead in the second quarter over the No. 5 seed Lady Lions came when a free throw at 6:10 set the score at 18-15. KJ White would collect a layup before Bender's layup gave FHU the one-point edge. The teams would trade one-point leads and ties until Rees Berkey's free throw with 29 ticks remaining gave the Lady Lions a 22-21 lead at the halftime break.

Freed-Hardeman would see Campbellsville start the second half hot, eventually seeing the Tigers reclaim a three-point edge before Rachel Satterly's 3-pointer helped the Lady Lions on a 7-0 run. With 3:10 remaining in the third quarter, Berkey tallied a long ball and a layup to set the score at 36-30 in favor of the Lady Lions.

The Lady Lions managed two made shots from the field in the final frame, with Satterly's layup at 5:56 being the last field goal made for the Lady Lions. Despite the low score from the field, FHU continued their strong showing at the charity stripe by hitting seven free throws to punch their ticket to the conference final with the 47-41 win.

The Lady Lions forced 11 turnovers and would capitalize on those takeaways to the tune of 17 points off of turnovers. Meanwhile, the Tigers did not score a single point off of the five Lady Lion turnovers.

Rachel Satterly led Freed-Hardeman's offensive attack with 13 points, while Rees Berkey notched a team-high seven rebounds. 

Up Next

Fighting for the right to claim their first MSC Championship, the Lady Lions will also vie with the Shawnee State (Ohio) University Bears for an automatic berth into the NAIA Women's Basketball National Tournament.

Tipoff for all the conference marbles is set for 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 27, from Bowling Green High School.