DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Over and over we have been told that the final total on the scoreboard is all that counts. That was certainly the case in the opening round of the Daytona Beach Shootout on Monday afternoon.
Lee's Lady Flames had a 2-0 lead with 18:30 left in the first half and never held the upper hand again - not until junior Brooke McKinnon scored with only 1:46 remaining in the contest to give coach Marty Rowe's club the 58-56 advantage over the Catawba College Indians. McKinnon then drained a pair of free throws in the final seconds as the Lady Flames improved to 11-2 with the 60-56 victory.
No doubt Lee was a bit rusty after a 10-day Christmas-break. The Indians (6-4) took control early and went on an 11-0 run to grab a 21-7 lead in the first half. The Lady Flames fought back and collected a basket from senior Kayce Addison just before the halftime buzzer sounded to cut the margin to 38-28.
Early in the second stanza, the Indians went back on the warpath and claimed a 14-point lead on a bucket by Dana Hicks. Quickly the Lady Flames regrouped. Kayla Carlisle scored with just over 14 minutes left, cutting the lead to just 46-40. She also helped the winning cause by pulling down seven rebounds and collecting three blocks.
Rowe's group dominated the final nine minutes of play. Sierra Sims and Katie Nelson nailed huge back-to-back 3-pointers and Nelson tallied again inside to cut the Catawba margin to 54-52. The Indians tried to stop the bleeding with a score, but Allison Rader made it a two-point game (56-54) at the 4:21 mark.
With 2:02 showing, Nelson helped bring the Lady Flames all the way back, scoring two of her game-high 20 points to tie the thriller at 56. McKinnon, who struggled most of the first half, but finished the action with 17 markers, countered with the final four points to give Lee one of its best comeback wins in years.
"Defense helped us finally get going," said Rowe. "Our offense fed off the defense and we played good basketball in the final nine or 10 minutes. Catawba is a good basketball team. Allie (Rader) and Kayce (Addison) picked up the intensity on the defensive end. I think our depth also played a role in the final 10 minutes." Rader had four assists and four steals, while Addison posted seven rebounds and dished off three assists.
Struggling dearly from the field (30 percent shooting) in the opening 20 minutes, the Lady Flames found their shooting eye (52 percent) in the second 20. They overcame 20 turnovers by making 13-of-14 free throws and also finished the rugged battle with a 40-percent field goal percentage.
On the other hand, Catawba, a NCAA Division II opponent, cooled off in the second half (29 percent) and shot 40 percent from the floor for the game. However, the Indians converted just 11-of-19 free throws and gave the Lady Flames an opportunity to stage the comeback.
Nelson registered another double-double by adding 10 boards to her 20-point total. The taller Indians edged Lee 35-34 in the rebounding department.
Hicks paced Catawba's balanced scoring with 12. Milica Ivanovic, Nisha Long and Maggie Sullivan tossed in 10 apiece.
Lee will return to the Ocean Center on Tuesday afternoon and face another NCAA Division II squad, Jesuit-Wheeling University in a 3 p.m. start. Twelve teams are taking part in the holiday event.