Tweet #flamenation

The Lee women's basketball team opened Gulf South Conference (GSC) play with a bang as they shot a sizzling 54 percent from the field to top Christian Brothers University, 78-51 on Thursday night in Walker Arena.

Freshman Emileigh Swafford led the charge with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting and canned four treys. Fellow newcomer Erin Walsh hit three triples and finished with 19 points and four rebounds while junior Kayla Beavers literally couldn't miss as she went a perfect 5-for-5 from downtown to account for her 15 markers.

"When we shoot the ball that well and play solid defense we are a hard team beat," noted head coach Marty Rowe. As a team the Lady Flames converted 12-of-23 from 3-point distance and kept the student section busy all night long hanging up "3" signs in Walker Arena.

The stingy Lee defense limited an athletic Lady Bucs squad to just 30.8 percent shooting (16-of-52) in the contest. The Memphis club made just two of its 16 3-point attempts. Breanna Ridgell paced the Christian Brothers and was the only Lady Buc in double-figures with 20 points. Taylor Pugh and Rachel Lee followed with eight points each.

"CBU is a very athletic team but there wasn't much they could do, especially the way KB (Kayla Beavers) our freshman were shooting the ball," said Rowe.

While the Lady Flames were lighting it up from downtown freshman forward Shelby Brown put forth a solid effort in the post with 10 points and four rebounds in just 15 minutes of work. Senior Alex Swope set the offense in motion with a game-high seven assists.

"This was just a really good all-around effort. We did an outstanding job of sharing the ball and Alex (Swope) and Jordan (Neuharth) did a good job of running our offense especially with Madison (Lee)out of the lineup," added Rowe.

Lee was held out of the lineup and could miss several games with a reoccurring knee injury. As the lead ballooned in the second half Rowe got all 14 players who dressed onto the floor.

The Lady Flames outrebounded the smaller Christian Brothers club 35-24. The Lady Bucs took care of the basketball committing just 10 turnovers while the Lady Flames were guilt of 17 floor mistakes. Lee showed off its depth outscoring the visitors 27-6 off the bench.

The two clubs jostled back in forth for the first 10 minutes of the game before the Lady Flames caught fire from outside and ended the half with a 40-21 advantage after Walsh hit a two-point bucket at the horn.

The victory moves the Lady Flames to 4-0 on the young season and 1-0 in GSC play. The loss drops the Lady Bucs to 2-4 and 0-1 in conference action. Lee owns a 3-0 mark over Christian Brothers since joining the GSC last season.

Rowe's club will not get much time to celebrate the victory as longtime rival and No. 19 ranked Union University comes to town on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tip.