Nothing ever comes easy when it comes to traveling to Mississippi to face a pair of Gulf South Conference clubs, and that certainly was the case on Saturday afternoon as the Lee women’s basketball team completed the two-game sweep with a 69-67 victory over rival Delta State University.
“Anytime you can find a way to win on the road in this league says a lot about your team and especially against Delta State,” said Coach Marty Rowe after his team improved to 14-3 overall and 7-2 in conference play inside historic Walter Sillers Coliseum.
“We have a total respect for their program and especially for Coach (Craig) Roden. Playing them on the second day of a road trip is just tough.
“You just have to find ways to win and we stepped up in the moment today,” he added. “These types of games are what we need to continue to grow and improve as a team.”
The Lady Flames appeared to have salted the victory away when Julia Duncan broke free for a layup with 18 seconds remaining to put Lee up 68-64. However, the never-say-die Lady Statesmen came right back with a 3-pointer by Ke’Vonskaye Stackhouse to cut the lead to 68-67. After a timeout, Haley Schubert was fouled and made one of two free throws to increase the lead to 69-67. A desperation shot by Delta State with the final seconds ticking away failed, giving Lee the hard-earned win.
Lee jumped out to an 18-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Delta fought back to outscore Lee 18-15 in the second period and trimmed the lead to 33-25. The Lady Statesmen, led by Stackhouse, continued to fight back in the third quarter and put 21 markers on the board to trail only 47-46.
The home squad grabbed their only lead midway of the fourth period 55-54 and it was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way. Hannah Garrett stepped up with a pair of 3-pointers and Halle Hughes nailed another three to help the Lady Flames hang onto the slim margin.
Schubert played 38 minutes and paced the Lee scoring with 20 points. She also had seven assists. Duncan was solid from start to finish with 16 points (6-of-9 from the floor) and five assists. Hughes gave the Lady Flames three players in double figures with 13 points. Garrett added eight while Anna Muhonen led Lee in rebounding with eight and Cam Grant pulled down six.
Lee shot 46% from the field (25-of-55) and made 13-of-15 free throws. They lost the rebounding battle 33-27. Delta State was solid across the board, 43% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc and canned 17-of-18 freebies.
The Lady Statesmen fell to 8-8, 6-5 and had four players in double figures. Stackhouse scored all her points in the second half and finished with 17. Zyaire Ewing and T’Kyra Hicks followed with 14 points each. Ewing also had eight rebounds. Camryn Davis rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
The Lady Flames moved within one-half game of second place in the GSC standings with Saturday’s win, and Christian Brothers upset victory over West Florida. Lee returns to action next Saturday when they travel to West Alabama for another tough road test.