After trailing 17-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Lee women’s basketball team outscored host Nova Southeastern 20-9 in the second period and held a 34-26 halftime advantage in route to a convincing 73-47 victory on Saturday afternoon inside Rick Case Arena. 

“We responded as a group really well today,” said Lee Coach Marty Rowe. “Nova posed some matchup problems on both ends but we did a great job of communicating and handling some adversity. This weekend we were very resilient as a team, when Nova made runs today, we did a great job of responding. It’s a great quality that this team is starting to show.” 

The victory completed a two-game sweep of the Florida trip by the 12th-ranked and 7-0 Lady Flames, setting up their Gulf South Conference opener against rival Union University next Thursday evening in Jackson, Tennessee. Saturday’s loss dropped Nova Southeastern of the Sunshine State Conference to 4-3 overall.   

Seniors Haley Schubert and Halle Hughes led the win against the Sharks. Schubert was on target, nailing 10-of-14 shots from the floor, 2-of-3 triples, and 5-of-6 free throws in finishing with a game-high 27 points. In addition, she also dished off eight assists. Hughes followed with 17 points and had an impressive shooting performance, canning 6-of-10 shots from the field, 3-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc and perfect 4-of-4 freebies. She finished with 19 points and led the Lady Flames in rebounding with eight while coming up with three steals. Julia Duncan canned three 3-pointers and tallied nine points. 

All totaled, the Lady Flames were blistering hot, shooting over 61% from the field (27-44), over 53% from 3-point range (8-15) and making 11-of-12 free throws. The Lee defense held the Sharks to 36% shooting overall, just 29% from 3-point range and they were awarded just nine free throws making five. 

Grace Gilmore was the Nova Southeastern leader with 17 points and seven rebounds. India Sheppard followed with nine points. The Lady Flames outrebounded Nova 28-23 and forced 17 turnovers while committing 15. Lee tallied 36 points in points in the paint and had 14 fast break points while the Sharks had zero. An overwhelming stat saw Lee tally 26 points off turnovers to just two for Nova.