Not even a great regulation time comeback was good enough to save the Lee women’s basketball team in an overtime loss to Valdosta State on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Blazers handed the Lady Flames an 86-81 overtime defeat and claimed second place in the final Gulf South Conference regular season standings.
The loss means the Lady Flames will be hosting rival Union University in the opening round of the GSC tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The two clubs split a pair of regular season contests and a trip to Birmingham (Samford University) semifinals will be on the line in Tuesday’s battle. Admission will be $10 for adults and $3 for students.
The Lady Flames were down by five points with the final seconds ticking away in regulation play. Erin Walsh nailed a 3-pointer and Abby Bertram hit a driving layup just before the final buzzer sounded to send the contest into overtime tied at 68.
With four Lee players on the sidelines with five fouls, the Blazers seized control quickly in the overtime period and outscored Lee 18-13 to claim the victory. The Lady Flames finished regular season play at 19-9 and 14-8 in the GSC. Valdosta State improved to 19-9 and 16-6.
Junior Shelby Brown turned in her top performance of the year with a double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds. Bertram tallied 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished off three assists. Carrie Cheeks battled foul problems much of the game but still managed 15 points and seven rebounds.
Walsh knocked down four triples for her 12 points and freshman Taylor Boggess finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
The Lady Blazers were paced by 22 points and nine boards by Mandi Mitchell. Aaliyah Cheatham sank five triples and tallied 21 points, while Kenya Samone’ Dixon turned in a big double-double, 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Coach Marty Rowe was deeply disappointed with the loss. “We missed key free throws down the stretch and shots we usually make. When a team shoots 38 free throws and makes 29, while we are awarded only 18 freebies and make 12, that’s hard to overcome.”
The Lady Blazers shot 43 percent from the field and a deciding factor was 11-of-24 triples made. The Lady Flames shot 41 percent from the field but converted just 26 percent of shots from beyond the arc. Lee won the rebounding battle 43-41 and took better care of the basketball, committing 13 turnovers to 19 for the winners.
Several of the other stats also favor the Lady Flames. They outscored the host club 32-20 in points in the paint, 18-14 in points off turnovers and 15-7 in second chance points. The Lady Blazers held a 35-14 advantage in points off the bench.
“We will go back and study the film of this game on Sunday,” stated Rowe. “Our girls know what’s at stake against a Union team that has really turned their season around after an unusual slow start. We’ve got to clean some things up and continue to work on getting better if we want to continue our season after Tuesday night.”