Coach Marty Rowe made changes to his starting lineup and his Lee women rebounded from a Tuesday night defeat and scored a convincing 89-50 victory over visiting Fort Valley State in Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon.
“We knew we were going to play a bigger lineup in several of our upcoming conference games this season,” noted Coach Rowe after his club improved to 5-2 overall and will face Shorter University when they return to GSC action on Wednesday in Rome, Ga. at 5 p.m.
The Lady Flames clicked on all cylinders for the majority of the contest and shot 41 percent from the field (27-66) and 32 percent from beyond the 3-point circle.
They were awarded 37 free throws and converted 27.
Becca Cheeks recorded the first double-double of her Lee career, 16 points and 13 rebounds in pacing the Lee scoring attack. Lee out-rebounded the visitors 47-29 and five different players pulled down at least four rebounds.
Abby Bertram was solid from start to finish and also 16 points to go along with four assists. Freshman Camryn Grant in her first start for the Lady Flames tallied 11 points. Haley Schubert and Lindsey Roddy countered with nine points each while Halle Hughes came off the bench to hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight markers.
“I was pleased with the play of Cam (Grant),” said Coach Rowe. “We also got the type of effort we were looking for from Abby (Bertram) and Lindsey (Roddy).” Rowe went to his bench often and 11 players got into the scoring act. He was also pleased with the way his club shared the ball (20 assists).
Lee’s defense held Alicia Franklin to only six points. She came into the contest averaging 23 points per game. Amiah Height and Nola Carter paced the visitors with 12 points apiece while Torri Myers pitched in with 10. All totaled, the Lady Flames held Fort Valley to 30 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc.
“I feel like this game and the game at Shorter on Wednesday will help us prepare for two big conference games with Valdosta State and West Florida next Saturday and Monday,” pointed our Rowe.