The surging Lee women's basketball team (10-1) raced out to a 36-17 halftime lead and never looked back in coasting to a 79-54 victory over host University of Pikeville on Tuesday evening.
It marked the opening game of a three-day road trip for coach Marty Rowe's sixth-ranked Lady Flames.
They will drive on over to Owensboro, Ky., rest much of the day tomorrow and then test Brescia University on Thursday. It will be homecoming for Rowe who was the head coach at Brescia for sixth years before taking over the Lee program some eight years ago. The game will be carried on 104.1 FM and Stretch Internet, beginning at 8 p.m.
"We came out with a lot of energy in the first half," said Rowe. "Our girls went on a run midway of the half and took charge of the game. I saw a lot of good things from this team tonight and we were able to play a lot of people." Fifteen Lady Flames made the trip and all 15 saw action.
Junior guard Hollie German usually plays from 35-40 minutes. She was rested after 29 minutes in the win and finished with 20 points. German was 7-of-12 overall from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. She finished the solid effort by canning all four of her free throws.
Sophomore forward Jenna Adams posted her fourth double-double in her last five starts. She was 5-of-11 overall from the floor and made 1-of-3 treys. Like German, Adams made both of her charity tosses as the Lady Flames converted 16-of-20 freebies as a team. Adams grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 13 points.
The two standouts had plenty of help. Junior Karley Miller had eight markers and seven boards as Lee dominated the glass 52-22. Senior Julia Zimmerman zipped home three shots from behind the arc and totaled nine points. Freshman Melanie Barker chipped in with eight points and four rebounds.Junior Myriah Iles collected sixth points and added three steals as the Lady Flames forced 15 Pikeville turnovers.Senior Brooke Hamby rounded out the play of the veteran group by dishing off a team-leading five assists.
Freshman Caroline Smith made her presence felt with four assists and senior Mary Jackson had five points. "I thought Myriah ran the floor well in the first half and we were strong on the boards and on defense," noted Rowe. "We got the big lead in the first half and backed off a little in the second half."
The Lady Flames shot 37 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, but heated up in the second stanza, making 50 percent (17-of-34 attempts). Shooting only 23 percent from the floor in the first half killed any hope of a Pikeville upset. They improved in the second 20 minutes (54 percent), but it was much too little, too late. Natile Tunnell had 13 points in defeat and Christin Haney joined in with nine points and seven rebounds.