The Lee University women’s basketball team showed significant improvement from their exhibition loss to UTC on Thursday, posting an 86-48 win in the team’s Homecoming game on Saturday.
“I thought we played a lot better today,” said Lady Flames’ assistant coach Mindy Kiser. “We did a better job in transition, and we did a nice job getting the ball inside, both on the run, and in the half-court.”
The Lady Flames (1-0) got double figure scoring efforts from Brooke McKinnon, Katie Nelson, and Kari Jo Harris, but it was Nelson who stood out more than anyone against Tennessee Wesleyan.
“Katie did a really nice job taking advantage of her size inside,” noted Kiser. “When she got the ball, she finished at the rim very well.”
Nelson led all scorers with 30 points in the game, while McKinnon had 17, and Harris scored 12 for the Lady Flames. Nelson made 12 of her 14 attempts, including her only 3-point attempt, in the game.
As Lee pulled away in the second half, the Lady Flames got some significant contributions from their bench players as well. The Lady Flames bench out-scored the bench of Tennessee Wesleyan 27-12 in the contest, and Kiser was pleased with what she saw out of Lee’s freshman class.
“Katie Davis rebounded very well for us in the game, and Brooke Hamby was able to come in and give Allison Rader a breather, which is what we look for her to do throughout the course of the season.”
As a team, the Lady Flames shot 53.6% from the floor, and 80% from the charity stripe, while holding the Lady Bulldogs to just 27.7% from the field.
Next up for Lee is a trip to the Habitat Classic at Georgetown College next weekend. They will face the Georgetown Lady Tigers on Friday night and the Shawnee State Lady Bears on Saturday afternoon.
“That will be a good test for us early,” Kiser noted. “Georgetown is always tough to play especially at home, and Shawnee State is a very good NAIA Division II program.”
Friday night’s game is slated to tip-off at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday’s contest will be at 2 p.m.