Nicky Widenski looks to make a pass in Wednesday's battle with Bryan College.
It was a shooting night from the field that Lee coach Marty Rowe and Bryan College coach Jason Smith would like to quickly forget. The Lady Flames shot less than 30 percent from field and the Lions 26 percent in Lee’s 58-48 victory on Wednesday evening inside Walker Arena.
The Lady Flames made just 21-of-71 shots from regular distance while the visiting Lions converted only 16-of-61. Lee made 3-of-25 shots from beyond the arc and Bryan 6-of-27. The Lady Flames did convert 13-of-17 free throws and the Lions 10-of-11.
Lee, usually a balanced scoring team, placed only Abby Bertram (17 points) and Becca Cheeks (12 points) in double figures.
Cheeks joined Taylor Boggess in leading the Lady Flames in rebounds with eight apiece. Lindsey Roddy, Halle Hughes and Nicky Widenski countered with six. Roddy joined Haley Schubert with four assists. Lee was only guilty of 10 turnovers while Bryan committed 17. The Lady Flames also won the rebounding battle 58-48.
Karli Combs paced the Lady Lions with 12 points and Deandra Luna followed with 11. Luna also had nine rebounds as did Sarah Cain. Lee held Bryan’s leading scorer Destiny Kassmer to just two points.
The low-scoring game saw Lee lead at the end of the first period 14-9 and 26-15 at the break. The Lady Flames pulled away to a 20-point margin in the third period only to see Bryan rally to outscore Lee 19-13 in the final frame.
The stat sheet shows the Lady Flames in control in all areas but one. Lee outscored the visitors 11-7 off turnovers, 28-20 points in the paint, 9-2 second chance points and 18-10 points off the bench. Bryan did have a 6-5 edge in fast break points.
The Lady Flames will return to the practice floor on Thursday and Friday before traveling to Auburn University at Montgomery to open GSC play on Saturday at 2 p.m.