Box Score
The Lee Lady Flames made history on Saturday afternoon and at the same time remained deadlocked with Delta State in a battle for first place in the Gulf South Conference.
After squeaking out a two-point victory over the always strong Lady Bulldogs in Jackson earlier in the season, the Lady Flames broke open a tight game in the final 2 1/2 minutes in claiming the hard-earned 70-65 victory.
The win moved Lee to 15-4 overall and an impressive 11-2 mark in the rugged GSC. Union dropped to 15-5 overall and 10-4 in conference action.
"Anytime you can get a sweep over Union and a Mark Campbell coached team, it's a great accomplishment," said a proud coach Marty Rowe. "Our girls stepped up and played with tremendous confidence especially in the second half and down the stretch. We matched Union bucket for bucket for a long period of time."
The contest was tied nine times and also featured nine lead changes. Union led 27-23 at the half but Lee opened quickly in the second half and shot a blistering 52 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. On the other hand Union, a 3-point shooting team, was only able to convert 7-of-22 attempts from behind the arc against the stingy Lee defense.
"It was a solid all-around team effort," noted Rowe. "Every player played a role in this victory and that is what it takes to win this type of game."
After a slow start, Hollie German finished strong and knocked down 6-of-9 3-pointers and converted all six of her free throws. She finished with 26 points, four rebounds and two assists. Jenna Adams also closed strong and recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Rowe singled out another fine overall effort by Rachel Lockhart who chalked up her first double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Myriah Iles came off the bench to add eight points and four rebounds, while Karley Miller added eight rebounds as Lee out-boarded the Lady Bulldogs 45-31.
"You can see how well played this basketball game was," said Rowe as he looked at the stat sheet and saw that his Lady Flames only had five turnovers compared to six for the visitors. "It doesn't get much better than that," he added.
For Union, Astrid Huttemann had 18 points and led her team with seven rebounds. Amy Philamlee added 15 points and Amber Rechis contributed 10. Lee had a huge advantage in second-chance points, out-scoring the Lady Bulldogs 21-6 in that department and grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.
There will be no time to celebrate for Rowe's ladies. They will hit the road and face Delta State in a showdown game on Thursday in Cleveland, Miss. Delta State handed the Lady Flames their only home defeat of the year.
Rowe praised the crowd as they turned out to support the annual Hoops for Hope game. "It was a big win for our team but an even bigger victory for our LUDIC program and their students," he pointed out.
