BILLINGS, Mont. - Third-ranked and top-seeded Campbellsville (Ky.) (29-5) fended off nearly three quarters of feisty Faulkner (25-7) pressure in the Duer Bracket to secure the 79-63 victory in the 38th annual NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship here at the Rimrock Auto Arena this afternoon.

The eighth-seeded Lady Eagles trailed 28-27 at halftime and catapulted into a two-point led early in the third quarter, but hot-handed Madison Clements elevated the Tigers out of harm's way with three 3-pointers in less than two minutes deep in the same period while scoring the last 11 Campbellsville points of quarter.

Faulkner never gave in, but the new deficit proved too much to overcome.

The Tigers edged the Lady Eagles by just three percent in total shooting from the field. Campbellsville did shoot 50 percent from range compared to Faulkner's 21 percent efficiency, but those figures resulted in just a six-point scoring differential.

Clements ultimately proved the deciding factor in the contest. The junior guard was explosive with 32 points while hitting 6-of-7 tires for 3-point territory.

The Lady Eagles were lead by Nicole Shirley who had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. The freshman also had three rebounds.

Savana Flack followed with 11 points and five boards while Kayla Tillman added 10 points and a pair of rebounds to the statistical tally.

"I thought for about 37 or 38 minuets of the game we went toe-to-toe with them," said head coach Reed Sutton. "We missed some assignments on three crucial possessions late in the third quarter and Clements hit some big shots and that was the difference-maker in my mind.

"I'm really blessed to have coached these seniors," he continued. "Their going to be great wives and mothers and employees some day and they've done an exceptional job setting a new foundation in what we want this program to be moving forward. I'm glad they had the opportunity to experience this type of event in their final season.

"Our young players are talented and gritty and tough," he said, "and with that kind of talent coming up, I think we can make this an annual event for us."