MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Christina Johnson scored a career-high 20 points and added 15 rebounds for her fourth double-double to lead the Lee University Lady Flames to a 69-57 victory over host Christian Brothers University in a Gulf South Conference (GSC) contest Saturday afternoon.
"Christina was unbelievable today," said Lee University head coach Marty Rowe. "Not only did she score and rebound, she held their best player to 14 points; and she had to take 26 shots to get there."
The Lady Flames (11-5, 8-5 GSC) put an end to a string of five consecutive road games and return to Paul Dana Walker Arena on Thursday for the first of two straight home dates. Lee faces West Florida at 6 p.m. on Thursday and Valdosta State at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Thursday's contest is the annual Hoops 4 Hope game that benefits the Lee University Developmental Inclusion Classroom (LUDIC).
"We played well all the way through the game," said Rowe. "The first half was the best we played offensively all year. I felt like we had five people all going in the same direction today."
Emileigh Swafford added 17 points to the total after making 5-of-11 shots and 5-of-5 free throws. Erin Walsh rounded out the Lee double-figure scorers with 11. Walsh led the Lady Flames with three made 3-pointers. Alex Swope dished out 10 assists to go with five points and six rebounds.
Shelby Brown tallied nine markers and four boards. Carrie Cheeks and Kayla Beavers contributed four and three points, respectively, to the total.
Johnson was the trend-setter for Lee making 7-of-8 shots from the floor, her only 3-point attempt and 5-of-6 free throw attempts. The Lady Flames made 54.3 percent (25-for-46) of their shots from the field and a season-high 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from behind the arc. Christian Brothers (5-14, 3-10 GSC) was 22-for-66 (.333), including 8-for-13 from three-point territory for the game.
The Lady Flames led 42-23 at the half after making 18-of-25 shots (.720) from the floor and 6-of-9 (.667) from behind the arc. CBU was held to 8-for-29 (.276) overall and 2-for-4 (.500) from distance in the opening 20 minutes.
Lee held a 42-19 lead with 2:52 left in the first half to mark the largest advantage in the game (23). CBU scored the final four points of the half to head into halftime with Lee ahead 42-23.
Christian Brothers had three players score in double figures. Breanna Ridgell was the leader with 14 points. Taylor Pugh was next with 11 and Courtney Banks tallied nine markers. Pugh completed a double-double effort with 11 rebounds.
The Lady Flames held a small advantage on the boards with 33 rebounds to CBU's 31. Lee grabbed just three offensive rebounds and turned them into seven second-chance points, while the Lady Bucs turned 11 offensive boards into 15 second-chance points.
