When a game is on the line, coach Marty Rowe makes no bones about it, he wants the basketball in the hands of his junior guard Hollie German.

German scored 25 of her 32 points in the second half as the Lady Flames turned back a determined Coastal Georgia team, 72-69.

The All-American tallied 10 of Lee's final 11 points as the Lady Flames battled back from a three-point deficit with only 1:38 remaining to post the thrilling SSAC victory.

With the Lady Flames down by four, German nailed a 3-pointer to cut the margin to one point with 58 seconds left. Rachel Lockhart converted 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 65.

The visiting Mariners came right back to grab a one-point lead on a field goal by Margaret Harvey. The never-say-die Lady Flames came right back and German missed a 3-point attempt. Karley Miller was there to grab the rebound and quickly pushed the ball out behind the 3-point arc. The ball went to German and she drove off a screen by Miller and nailed a key 3-pointer to put Lee up for good.

Coastal Georgia was not about to quit. The Mariners got a final shot to try to take the lead but Harvey's attempt failed. German iced the win by making four straight free throws.

"Our girls know we want the ball in Hollie's hands in these types of situations," said Rowe who had nothing but praise for the visiting Coastal Georgia team. He quickly noted that the rebound by Miller was huge and that she popped out to set a screen to help ice the victory.

German was 9-of-9 from the free-throw line and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. She also led the Lady Flames with six assists. Jenna Adams got the Lady Flames off to a quick start in the opening half and finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Miller added seven points, six rebounds and totaled four steals. Freshman Christina Johnson grabbed six rebounds to tie Miller for the lead in that department and she also drew praise from Rowe with her reserve play.

The Lady Flames led only 30-29 at the half but Coastal Georgia got a quick start in the second 20 minutes and led by eight at the 16:24 mark. The contest was tied 12 times and there were 13 lead changes.

"Coastal Georgia has an outstanding basketball team and coach (Betsy) Harris does an outstanding job. We have to face this team at least once or maybe twice more and it's not going to be easy."

The Mariners had five players in double-figure scoring. Olivia Melvin was the leader with 16. Maria Marshall tallied 13 and grabbed nine rebounds. Harvey finished with 12, while Crystal Chaney and Janne Tullius pitched in with 10 apiece.

The Lady Flames shot 48 percent overall (25-of-52) and made 8-of-18 3-pointers (44 percent). They converted 14-of-21 free throws. Coastal Georgia shot 40 percent from the field, 37 percent from behind the arc and almost won the game at the charity stripe, canning 19-of-22. The Lady Flames won the rebounding battle against the taller Mariners, 35-28.

The 5th-ranked Lady Flames improved to 15-1 on the year and 6-1 in conference play. Coastal Georgia dropped to 14-4 and 6-2 in league action. Lee faces another tough test next Thursday when it hosts Emmanuel College in the opening game of a double header beginning at 6 p.m.