BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A late fourth quarter comeback fell three points short as the Lee women’s basketball team was beaten for the third time this season by Valdosta State University. The three losses have come by a total of 10 points and one was in overtime.
On Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament, Sonya Franklin hit a mid-range jumper to give the Lady Blazers a 4-point lead with just over 12 seconds remaining and the shot-clock ticking down to zero. The basket plus 3-point shooting by Valdosta State in the second half helped insure the 64-61 victory.
The loss dropped the Lady Flames to 20-10 on the year and Valdosta improved to 21-9. The Lady Blazers are almost assured a spot in the NCAA DII South Region which gets underway next week. The Lady Flames will have to wait until Sunday to see if they draw an at-large spot.
“I’m really disappointed that we got out-worked by Valdosta State for most of the game,” said coach Marty Rowe. “They really won the toughness battle today and that’s usually what it takes in post-season.”
The coach added, “Now we wait on the Sunshine Conference final tomorrow afternoon to see if we advance to next week’s regionals. We would love that opportunity but it’s out of our hands now.”
The Lady Blazers jumped to an 18-11 lead at the end of the first period. Both teams struggled to get their offense going in the second frame and the result was a Valdosta 29-22 halftime advantage. The lead grew to 49-37 by the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Flames finally began their comeback attempts with just over four minutes remaining in the final quarter and outscored the Lady Blazers 24-15 in the frame. “We battled hard in the fourth quarter but just dug too big a hole for ourselves,” concluded coach Rowe.
After shooting just 32 percent from the field in the first half, Lee fought back with 52 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes and finished the game at 42 percent. The usual 3-point shots failed Lee as they made only 2-of-12 for the game and also had some struggles at the charity stripe, 11-of-18.
It was a different story for the Lady Blazers who stunned the Lady Flames by making 7-of-13 triples. Kenya Samone’ Dixon made 4-of-4 shots from beyond the arc to help pace her team with 16 points. However, Franklin might have turned in her best effort of the season with 17 timely points. The Lady Flames held the VSU’s All Conference player Madi Mitchell to only 3-of-17 shooting from the field. She finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Lady Blazers outrebounded Lee 42-32.
Lee got a balanced effort from five players. Lindsey Roddy, Abby Bertram and Erin Walsh totaled 11 points apiece, while Carrie Cheeks and Haley Cornellison garnered 10 points each. It was a 3-pointer and a layup by Cornellison that moved the Lady Flames to within two points of VSU with just over 30 seconds remaining. Shelby Brown had eight points and led Lee with seven rebounds.