After a slow start in the opening quarter, the Lee University women’s basketball team outscored visiting University of West Georgia 19-7 in the second period and led 33-22 at the halftime break. The third frame saw the two teams battle evenly (18-18). The Lady Flames put 20 points on the board to close out the contest and post a 71-53 GSC victory.
Lee improved to 16-6 in conference play and 18-8 overall while the Wolves dropped to 10-11, 14-11. The Lady Flames will have eight days off before returning to action. They will travel to Jackson, Tenn. and face rival Union University one week from Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and close out regular-season play on Saturday, March 2 (3 p.m.) in Memphis against Christian Brothers University.
Coach Marty Rowe praised the rebounding work of his club in the win over the Wolves. Baylee Delbridge came off the bench to pull down seven boards as the Lady Flames outrebounded West Georgia 33-28. Addison Smith and Kara Williams grabbed five rebounds apiece. All totaled eight Lady Flames joined in the rebounding attack and 10 came on the offensive glass.
Haylee Johnson led the Lee scoring attack with 17 points. She made 6-of-12 shots, a pair of 3-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws. Johnson also completed her solid effort with six assists. Mallory Hampton made 5-of-6 charity tosses and followed with 16 points and five assists. Smith added 13 markers to her steady performance while Mia Hurst drilled a pair of triples and collected eight points. When things weren’t going well on the offensive end, Williams stepped up with two key 3-pointers.
Overall, the Lady Flames shot 46% from the field (25-of-55) and made 8-of-23 treys (35%) but at the free-throw line they converted 13-of-19. Lee outscored the Wolves 20-8 in points off turnovers and 30-14 in points in the paint. West Georgia was guilty of 23 floor mistakes while the Lady Flames committed 13.
The Wolves got 19 points from their team’s leading scorer Zuriyah Davis. Mykah Anderson came off the bench and tallied 16 markers. No other player reached double digits. West Georgia shot 39% overall (16-of-41) but did step out beyond the arc and nailed 9-of-19 attempts (47%). However, they made only 12-of-25 free throws.
Coach Marty Rowe’s thoughts:
“We played again tonight with great urgency. Defensively we were solid again especially in that second quarter when we were able to build a lead.
“West Georgia is a really good team, so anytime you are able to get a win against them it’s a good night.
“We’ve got eight days before we play again, so we will take tomorrow off and then get back to work.”