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Despite a slow start the Lee women's basketball team pulled away late in the first half and never looked back en route to a 65-44 victory in the regular season opener over Truett-McConnell College on Monday evening in Walker Arena.

The Lady Flames (1-0) found themselves in unfamiliar territory against the Lady Bears (1-5), a team they now hold a perfect 10-0 record against, as TMC rattled off the first 10 points in the contest and held a 12-2 advantage six minutes into the opening half.

Lee would regain its footing and use a big 30-9 run to close the half with a 32-23 lead. The Lady Flames shot just 31 percent (14-of-45) in the first period and made just one of their 20 3-point attempts to allow the Lady Bears to hang around early in the contest.

"Matt Sanders had his Truett-McConnell team came out ready to play and we just weren't ready at the start of the game," noted head coach Marty Rowe.

"That was the best 12-minute stretch they had played all year. We're a young team and were going to have some games like that where we struggle for a period of time. I'm proud of the way we were able to regroup and get the victory," said Rowe.

Neither team put on a shooting clinic as the Lady Flames shot just 31 percent (26-of-83) from the field while the Lady Bears made just 12 of their 37 attempts (32 percent). After hitting 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the first half Truett-McConnell made just 5-of-15 in the second half to finish at 33.3 percent from deep. Lee hit only 15 percent of its long range shots (6-of-40).

"You won't see many nights where we shoot the ball that poorly, especially from 3-point range," admitted Rowe.

Freshman Erin Walsh led the way with 18 points for the Lady Flames. Walsh hit four treys and grabbed five boards in the contest. Fellow freshman Emileigh Swafford tallied 12 markers, five rebounds and swiped three steals. Senior leader Madison Lee made it three players in double-figures with 11 points and five boards of her own.

Rowe singled out his older players for jump starting the team after the slow start, "I was proud of our veteran players Madison, Swope (Alex), and Jordan (Neuharth) tonight. They came in a settled us down early so we could get back into the game."

Lee used swarming defense to pressure Truett-McConnell all night long. Rowe's club forced a staggering 35 turnovers and recorded 21 steals. The Lady Flames committed just 11 turnovers and registered 12 assists. Lee dominated in the paint outscoring the Lady Bears 38-12 in the post.

The home team out-rebounded the Georgia club 48-39. The starting frontcourt led the charge on the glass for the Lady Flames as Carrie Cheeks notched eight rebounds while Shelby Brown grabbed six.

Rhande Haskett paced the Lady Bears with 18 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Anna Murr joined Haskett in double-figures with 10 points. Natalie Johnson pulled down nine boards to go along with seven points.

"We're going to get everybody's best shot this year and that includes Temple on Thursday night," acknowledged Rowe.

Lee will welcome in the rival Lady Crusaders on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. The Lady Flames will make it three games in six days when they wrap up the week with the annual Jack Souther Classic on Saturday afternoon against Brescia.