Guided by a career-high 33 points from Erin Walsh the Lady Flames defeated Christian Brothers University, 75-60 on Saturday afternoon from Walker Arena.
Walsh, a sophomore from Knoxville, delighted the home crowd hitting 12 of 22 from the field and canned five triples in the victory.
Lee used a dominating third period to open up what was a close contest at the half. The Lady Flames led by three at the intermission but doubled up the Lady Bucs, 24-12 in the third quarter.
Another sophomore stepped up big for Lee as Carrie Cheeks recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman Haris Price added 10 points and four assists while Christina Johnson was her usual steady self on the glass with eight boards.
The Lady Bucs were paced by 22 points from Courtney Banks. Samantha Reeves added 13 markers and Ashley Shaefer rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10.
“We extended our defense in the second half and forced 11 turnovers which was really big for us. Christian Brothers lulls you into playing the way they want to play so you have to come out and bring defensive intensity from the start and for some reason we seem to be a little flat or too comfortable at home,” said head coach Marty Rowe. “Once we stepped up the defensive pressure that led to some transition buckets and of course Erin got going for us and I thought Haris was more aggressive in the second half.”
Lee dominated Christian Brothers in the rebounding department, 48-29. The Lady Flames moved the basketball around and registered 17 assists compared to 15 turnovers. The Lady Bucs were guilty of 14 floor mistakes and had just seven assists.
The Lady Flames finished shooting 42.2 percent (28 of 68) from the field while limiting the Memphis club to just 34.6 percent (18 of 52).
Rowe’s club continued in impressive streak of bouncing back big after a loss. The Lady Flames have followed each of their five defeats this season with wins by an average of 15 points.
The Lady Flames finish the rugged Gulf South Conference home stand with a 3-2 mark and are now 13-5 overall and 10-3 in league play. The Lady Flames have sole possession of second place in the conference and sit one game back of frontrunners Delta State and Union. Christian Brothers falls to 6-11 and 4-9.
Lee will head back on the road to battle West Florida on Thursday from Pensacola. The Argonauts are coming off a 3-point road loss to Alabama-Huntsville. Tip time is slated for 6:30 p.m. EST.
“West Florida is really good and we haven’t been on the road for a while so we will need to be ready to play on Thursday night,” concluded Rowe.