Paced by 24 points and nine assists from freshman Abby Bertram the Lee women’s basketball team fired past visiting Christian Brothers University, 86-68 on Saturday afternoon from Walker Arena.
In addition to Bertram flying around the court the Lady Flames canned 12 triples and shared the basketball collecting 20 assists to even the season series with the Lady Bucs.
Haley Cornellison and Carrie Cheeks came off the bench to combine for 33 points. Cornellison hit five triples and scored 16 points while Cheeks was 7 of 8 from the field and tallied 17 points and six rebounds.
“We had little lapse in the fourth quarter but for the most part we played hard and played together and defended with urgency and purpose today,” said a pleased coach Marty Rowe. “It’s a step in the right direction but we’ve been inconsistent this year so we need to make sure we keep this going. Overall though it was a much better effort than Thursday.”
Lee dominated on the glass with 42 rebounds compared to just 21 for Christian Brothers. Paced by Cheeks and Shelby Brown (six points) the Lady Flames outscored CBU, 32-16 in the paint.
Rachel Lee led the way for the Lady Bucs with 26 points. Madison Luckett followed with 14 markers, hitting three shots from beyond the arc.
The Lady Flames led by as many as 24 points at the 4:51 mark in the third quarter. Christian Brothers cut the lead to 12 points and forced a missed shot with 2:26 left in the contest but Cheeks was there to grab the board and put it back up and in to stifle any last gasp comeback effort.
“I was really proud of how our veterans Erin (Walsh) and Carrie (Cheeks) responded to not starting today as well,” added Rowe. “We shuffled some things around and I was pleased with how everyone responded.”
The sharpshooting Lady Flames hit 30 of 59 (50.8 percent) from the floor and canned 14 of 17 fouls shots. The Lee defense limited the Lady Bucs to just 34. 5 percent shooting from the field. CBU did convert 21 of 24 from the charity stripe.
“In order for our offense to flow properly the ball needs to move and should be shared and we did that really well today, especially in the first half,” said head coach Marty Rowe.
The Lady Flames improve to 13-6 and are now 8-5 in the GSC. Lee got some help in the conference standings with first place West Florida and second place North Alabama both losing today. Christian Brothers falls to 11-7 and 8-6 in the league.
Lee will continue the grind of three games in five days on Monday evening as they head on the road to Rome, Ga. to tangle with rival Shorter University. The Lady Flames defeated the Lady Hawks in Walker Arena back on Dec. 3, 79-70.
Christian Brothers University outscored Lee 36-23 in the second half and posted a key Gulf South Conference victory on Saturday afternoon in Walker Arena. It was the fourth straight defeat for the Flames who face another tough GSC challenge on Monday evening at Shorter University.
The win improved Christian Brothers record to 12-8 overall and 9-5 in the important conference race. The Flames slipped to 9-10 and 5-8 in the 60-54 loss.
Missed free throws, turnovers and defensive mistakes proved costly to Coach Bubba Smith’s club. “We have to get mentally tougher in the second half and our seniors have to be more focused. Down the stretch, we fell asleep too many times on defense,” noted the Lee coach.
The Flames held a 31-24 advantage at the half after Jervon Johnson knocked down a 3-point shot at the buzzer. However, the Bucs regrouped and Jeff Larkin scored six straight points to open the second stanza. Adam Dieball followed with a triple and all of a sudden Christian Brothers gained the lead.
Lee battled back in the late stages and cut the lead to two points on a couple of occasions. Twice the front end of one-plus-one free throws were missed and then Johnson missed a huge opportunity to convert a four-point play after he was fouled on a successful 3-pointer.
“Christian Brothers came after us with great aggressiveness in the second half and we didn’t respond,” stressed Coach Smith. “We keep beating ourselves with defensive breakdowns and turnovers.”
Dieball all scorers with 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Larkin finished with 13, while Adam Trentman produced a double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Bucs shot only 38 percent in the first half but came back with 60 percent shooting in the second 20 minutes. They turned the basketball over just nine times, but converted only 6-of-15 free throws.
Lee was paced by a hard-earned 14 points by Keevin Tyus. Cody Farley tallied 13 points and paced the Flames in rebounding with eight. Lee held a 31-30 margin on the glass. Johnson hit three triples and had nine points.
For the game, the Flames shot 50 percent in the first half but just 33 percent in the second 20 minutes, finishing with 42 percent for the game. They fired 22 3-pointers and converted eight (36 percent) and struggled at the line hitting 8-of-15. The Flames committed 18 floor mistakes.
“This team will continue to work hard,” said Coach Smith. “We will look at the film of the game and try to correct some of the mistakes we are making, especially on the defensive end.”