Junior Abby Bertram scored a career high 32 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc in leading the Lee women to a GSC victory over visiting Valdosta State University on Saturday afternoon inside Walker Arena.
The victory was sweet revenge for the Lady Flames who fell in the final game of tournament play to the Blazers last season. The 72-61 win improves Lee to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play. Valdosta drops to 6-4 and 1-2.
The Lady Flames will face an even tougher test on Monday as they close out the pre-Christmas slate by hosting the University of West Florida in another GSC battle. The Argos will bring an 8-2, 2-1 mark to town and will be coming off a win over Alabama Huntsville on Saturday. The doubleheader action gets underway at 6 p.m.
"Abby (Bertram) was tremendous today," commented Lee head coach Marty Rowe after the win. "This is the type of play she is capable of. We also got an excellent game from Nicky (Widenski, 15 points, five assists). We really needed that when Becca (Cheeks) went down early with the injury. I think Becca will be OK for Monday's game."
Lindsey Rodney added eight points and Taylor Boggess pulled down five rebounds, but Lee lost the rebounding battle, 37-33. Crystal Townsend paced the Blazers with 18 points and six rebounds. Maddy Corazza added 13 and five boards.
The Lady Flames jumped out to a big lead early in the first quarter and held a 25-17 lead after the first 10 minutes. However, the Blazers stiffened up on the defensive end in the second period before Lee scored four big points late in the quarter to take a 32-25 halftime lead"
"Our final four points near the end of the first half was really big," noted Coach Rowe. "We also made some adjustments at halftime and were able to take control." The Lady Flames led 51-39 after three quarters.
The Lady Flames scored 24 points off turnovers but lost the battle in the paint 38-26. They rebounded by tallying a 16-6 margin in fast-break points and getting 20 points to only 10 for Valdosta in points off the bench.