ROME, Ga. - Kayla Beavers calmly drained two free throws with six seconds remaining to help the Lee women's basketball team defeat rival Shorter University, 53-50 on Thursday evening.

The Lady Hawks had a chance to tie things up on a 3-pointer at the buzzer but the shot innocently kicked off the rim to send the Lady Flames to their second straight road victory. Lee is now 10-4 overall and 7-4 in Gulf South Conference (GSC) play. The loss drops Shorter to 7-10 and 3-8 in league games.

The smothering Lee defense held the home team to just 28.6 percent shooting (16-of-56) in the contest. The Lady Flames hit 19-of-48 (39.6 percent) from the field and neither team shot the ball well from behind the arc as Lee converted just 3-of-19 while Shorter hit only two of its 17 attempts.

"They're so familiar with us and we're so familiar with them," said head coach Marty Rowe. "We made some tough shots and hit foul shots down the stretch to beat a good team on the road tonight."

Freshman forward Carrie Cheeks had 14 points in the victory to go along with six rebounds and two blocks before fouling out of the game. Freshman Erin Walsh joined Cheeks with 14 points and made her presence felt on the defensive end swiping four steals.

Emiliegh Swafford added eight points and four boards while Beavers came off the bench to register seven points including the two clutch free throws in the final seconds.

"KB (Kayla Beavers) has improved so much and makes great decisions and has become a great defender for us," said Rowe. I thought Rebecca Jameson came in and gave us great energy and rebounding off the bench. She also made a great catch and pass in our high-low offense to find Shelby (Brown).

The Lady Hawks held a slight advantage on the glass out rebounding Lee 38-37 due in large part to 14 offensive boards. Rowe's club committed 16 turnovers and forced Shorter into 12 floor mistakes.

Ieshia Alexander was the only Lady Hawk in double-figures as she finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Cynara Pitt followed with nine markers on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Lindsey Crawford pitched in eight points and grabbed six rebounds.

The Lady Flames and Lady Hawks are no strangers to one another after meeting several times as members of the Southern States Athletic Conference during  both teams' NAIA days. Lee has held the upper hand during the first three meetings of the NCAA D2 and GSC era, winning the first three matchups after sweeping the season series a year ago.

"I'm glad we were able to get these two road wins," said Rowe. "Union and West Florida have separated themselves by two games and Delta State is improving but we're right there and we've put ourselves in position to compete."

After three games in six days Lee will get a much needed week off before heading back on the road for a trip to Union University. The Lady Flames and Bulldogs will renew their rivalry next Thursday at 7 p.m.

"We've worked really hard since we came back from Christmas break so it will be nice to get some rest this weekend," concluded Rowe.