The No. 15 Lee women's basketball team bounced back in a big way on Saturday afternoon after suffering its first loss of the season the day before in winning 71-49 over Nova Southeastern.
Carrie Cheeks pulled down 16 rebounds and had 13 points and Erin Walsh canned four triples and scored 18 points to lead the way for the Lady Flames.
Lee (5-1) bulldozed its way to a dominating 42-12 advantage at the halftime break on 56.6 percent shooting (17 of 30). For the game the Lady Flames hit 29 of 55, good for 52.7 percent.
Led by Cheeks the Lady Flames drilled the Sharks on the boards by a staggering 45-18 margin and scored 42 points in the paint compared to just 22 for the home team.
All totaled Lee had five players reach double-figures in scoring on the night.
Shelby Brown joined Cheeks and Walsh with 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Sophomore guards Taylor Boggess and Lindsey Roddy also added 10 points each.
The stingy Lady Flame defense swiped seven steals and blocked five shots in limiting Nova Southeastern to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field (16 of 48).
Cheray Saunders led the Sharks with 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field while Taylor Smith added 10.
Lee will return home to open up conference play on Thursday with a visit from Auburn Montgomery. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.
FRIDAY
Lee suffered its first setback of the 2017-18 season falling to Embry-Riddle, 86-66 on Friday afternoon.
The Eagles led from start to finish in handing the Lady Flames a rare double-digit loss on the opening day of the Nova Southeastern Thanksgiving Classic.
Senior guard Erin Walsh led the way for the Lady Flames with 19 points on 8 of 16 shooting from the field. Freshman Maddie Long pitched in 12 points, three assists and swiped three steals while Taylor Boggess added 10 points off the bench.
Sabrina Whiting stole the show for Embry-Riddle as she delivered 28 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the field while canning four triples. Tara Fields had 20 points and Lauren Ellenberger hit three 3s to and finished with 13 points in the winning
effort.
The Eagles dished off 21 assists as a team led by six from Nicole Tucker and shot 52.7 percent from the field (29 of 55) and 43 percent from beyond the arc (9 of 21). The Lady Flames were limited to just 23 of 59 from the field, good for 39 percent and 7 of 21 on 3-pointers (33.3 percent).