For the third straight year the Lee women's basketball team has been eliminated from the Gulf South Conference Tournament in the semi-final round. However, the Lady Flames will likely see their season continue when the South Region pairings are announced late Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon Lee fell to long-time rival Union University, 66-56. The Lady Bulldogs grabbed the early lead and turned back every comeback attempt by battling Lady Flames. The loss dropped Lee to 23-6 overall and Union's NCAA Division II third-ranked club improved to 27-3.
Both teams had trouble getting their offense in gear during the first quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs managed a 12-10 advantage at the first break.
Union got its offense clicking in the second stanza and grabbed a 36-24 lead at the halftime break.
The Lady Flames battled the Lady Bulldogs on even terms in the third frame (20-20) and Lee actually outscored Union in the final 10 minutes, 12-10, but it was much too late.
"Give Union credit, they were better than us again today," explained Lee head coach Marty Rowe. "They had some people set up and give them big minutes."
Rowe was speaking about the play of Sara Lytle (15 points), while Kyvin Goddin-Rogers and Jada Perkins chipped in with eight markers apiece. All-American Chelsey Shumpert was hard to control again and poured in 24 points.
However, free throws proved costly for the Lady Flames in their second straight meeting with the Union squad. The Lady Bulldogs marched to the charity stripe 17 times and canned 15. Lee struggled, although being awarded 22 attempts it was able to convert 13.
"Against a team like Union, you have to make free throws when the opportunity occurs," pointed out Rowe. "I don't have any answers but again we couldn't make our free throws consistently."
Rowe did praise the play of his seniors. "I thought our seniors carried us today," he noted. "Our younger players need to be able to play better if we're going to have a chance against good teams this time of year"
For the game, the Lady Flames only shot 33 percent from the field and made just 3-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc. Seniors Erin Walsh and Carrie Cheeks scored 15 points apiece. Senior Shelby Brown chipped in with eight scores, resulting in 38 of Lee's 56 points.
Cheeks also finished with a double-double (10 rebounds) despite playing just over 20 minutes before leaving with five fouls. Walsh pulled down eight as the Lady Flames out-rebounded the Lady Bulldogs, 39-31. Abby Bertram joined in the battle of the boards by claiming five. Lee had 12 turnovers and Union turned the basketball over 11 times. The winners shot 45 percent for the game and made 7-of-19 triples.
Coach Rowe and the Lady Flames will turn their attention towards the South Region play beginning next Friday, apparently being hosted by Union in Jackson, Tenn. Eight teams will take part in the region and currently Lee is ranked as the sixth best club in the South Region.
"All we can do is set back and wait to see if we get into the regional. At this point, we've done all we can and hopefully it's good enough," concluded coach Rowe.
Photo IDs: Carrie Cheeks finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in Lee's loss to Union University on Saturday afternoon in the semi-final round of the GSC tournament.