Playing in their final Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) regular season game the Lee women's basketball team soundly defeated Brewton-Parker College , 78-49 Saturday afternoon.
The seventh-ranked Lady Flames will now set their sights on the SSAC Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. which begins on Thursday. Coach Marty Rowe's club will go in as the No.1 seed with a record of 27-2 overall and a 16-2 mark in conference play.
Lee jumped out to a 12-point lead at the intermission and would go on to outscore BPC 41-24 in the second stanza to cap off the 29-point victory.
The Lady Flames have won 10 straight games going into the postseason play. The last time they tasted defeat was Jan. 26 at Southern Poly.
"I was pleased with the way the girls closed out the regular season. This is the way we wanted to finish. I feel like we improved with every game." said Rowe.
Junior Hollie German led the scoring attack for Lee as she recorded 20 points and dished out three assists. German made her presence felt on the defensive end as well swiping four steals. Juniors Karley Miller and Myriah Illes provided the punch in the post. Miller finished with 10 markers and seven rebounds while Illes added nine points to go along with five boards for the Lady Flames.
"I'm especially proud of the way our seniors have played down the stretch" stated Rowe. One of those seniors Brooke Hamby helped set the table for the Lee offensive. The veteran point guard dished off seven assists. Senior Julia Zimmerman continued to shoot the ball well from behind the arc hitting four 3-pointers. Zimmerman
finished with 14 points.
Lee shot 45 percent from the field in the contest and hit of 10-of-25 from behind the arc (40 percent). The Lady Flames converted 14-of-19 from the charity stripe. Lee's swarming defense limited BPC to just 31 percent shooting for the game and helped to create 26 turnovers. The Lady Flames were guilty of 17 floor mistakes and dished out 18 assists.
The Lady Flames won the battle on the boards by a 36-28 margin. A big advantage in the game was bench scoring as Lee outscored BPC 31-13 off the bench.
Brianna Webb was the only player in double-figures for the host team. She scored 12 points and pulled down four rebounds. Crystal Nwaopara and Ima Petion added nine points each.
"I really feel good about this team as we enter tournament play next week." admitted Rowe. " Today we came to a tough place to play and took care of business and that is what good teams are suppose to do."