HIGH POINT, N.C. - Earning their first Big South Conference Tournament win since 2002, the fifth-seeded Charleston Southern women's basketball team upset fourth-seeded Campbell, 57-53, in Friday's quarter-final match of the 2011-12 Big South Conference tournament.

CSU advances to the semi-finals against top-seeded Liberty on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. at High Point University's Millis Center.

The victory was CSU's first-ever over Campbell after 25 consecutive losses. The win also marked the first appearance in the conference tournament semi-finals since the 2001-02 season. Coincidentally, the Bucs faced Liberty in that semifinal as well, falling to the Flames, 54-41.

CSU's 17th win is the second most in a single season in CSU history. The Lady Bucs are one victory short of tying the best season in school history; an 18-10 mark under then-coach Fred Francello in 1998-99.

"What a great defensive battle. Campbell really came to play tonight," remarked head coach Julie Goodenough. "Our players really bought into our defensive game plan. That was two really good offensive teams having to duke it out against really good defensive efforts. I'm proud of our team; we've got some players who are playing a ton of minutes. They kept their focus and kept their intensity down the stretch. They stepped up and knocked down big shots when we needed them to. I couldn't be more proud of them right now."

Rachelle Coward and Lakeitha Alston each went 6-for-19 from the field, with Coward sinking five 3-pointers to lead the team in scoring with 20 points. Alston put up 17 points and led the team's rebounding effort with eight boards. She also added a team-high four steals. It was a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Coward that sealed the deal in the Bucs' win.

Kiki Rutledge dished our six helpers and also tied for the team rebounding lead with eight. Shay Jones and Erin Bratcher each sunk a pair of treys for the Bucs, with Jones tallying nine points on the day.

The Buccaneers struggled from the field in the first half, sinking just seven field goals. They more than doubled that in the second half, adding in six shots from downtown to shoot 29.7 percent overall. CSU also went 10-for-14 from the charity stripe and grabbed 11 steals.

Katelyn Bass and Tonisha Baker each recorded a double-double for the Camels. Bass led the scoring with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Baker led the rebounding with 12 boards and 15 points. The Lady Camels shot 37.0 percent from the field and made just one shot from beyond the arc in the contest. The finished the game with 20 turnovers to CSU's 10, but were able to out-rebound CSU, 48-35.

A pair of early 3-pointers CSU an early 8-4 lead but the Camels quickly negated the CSU advantage with a 10-0 scoring run to take a 6-point lead with 14:16 to go. Another shot from downtown by Coward with just under 10 minutes to play in the half would put the Bucs in front again, 15-14.

However, O'Neill sunk a trey for CU as the lead was passed back to the Camels at 17-15. Campbell held on to the advantage for the rest of the half, though Alston hit the free throw line with 2.3 seconds to play in the half to cut the deficit to four, 25-21.

Coward's three-pointer tied the game at 29 only two and a half minutes into the second half. Alston notched her 1,000th career point on a layup with 15:32 to play in the second half, giving the Bucs the 31-29 lead.

The two teams battled in a one possession game as Baker tied things up 38-38 for the sixth time at the free throw line. A pair of big three's from Alston pushed the Bucs ahead by five at 44-39 with less than nine minutes to play in the game.

However, Campbell stormed back with just under three minutes to play, using a 10-6 run to trim CSU's lead to one at 50-49.

With CSU leading, 52-51, Campbell's Kate Cloxton hit a jumper to give her team a one-point lead with 1:19 to play. Coward answered, however, with a three-pointer to give CSU a 55-53 with 27 seconds remaining. Coward sealed the victory with two free throws with four ticks remaining.

CSU lost both regular season meetings with Liberty, taking the perennial league power to two overtimes before falling in Lynchburg in February.

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