Erin Walsh and Emileigh Swafford evenly split 46 of Lee University's point total to lead the Lady Flames to a 58-55 defeat of Gulf South Conference (GSC) foe University of West Alabama.
Walsh was 7-for-20, including three 3-pointers, from the field and made 6-of-6 free throws on her way to a career-high 23 points. Swafford made 17 trips to the charity stripe and converted 14.
The Lady Flames (8-3, 5-3 GSC) trailed West Alabama (6-6, 3-5 GSC) by seven with just under seven minutes to go. Over the next three minutes, Lee went on a 12-0 run to take a 55-50 lead. Walsh led the charge with seven markers, one steal and an assist during the streak.
"Kelly (Kiser) kept trying to get me to switch to a zone defense and when I finally did, it slowed their momentum down and allowed us to overcome their seven point lead," said Lee head coach Marty Rowe.
Shelby Brown scored six points with Carrie Cheeks adding four and Christina Johnson rounding out the Lee scoring with two points. Johnson also grabbed 10 rebounds to record her third straight game with double-figure boards.
The Lady Flames made 16-of-46 (.348) shots from the floor and 4-of-18 (.222) from beyond the arc. West Alabama was 19-for-53 (.358) overall and 2-for-13 (.154) from distance.
Lee held an edge at the free throw line by making 22-of-30 (.733) attempts, while the Tigers made just 15-of-26 (.577).
UWA won the battle of the boards with 38 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive end that led to 16 second-chance points. The Lady Flames pulled down 31 rebounds and turned nine offensive rebounds into two points.
 "In the last two games we have stepped up and found a way to win against teams that were not only good on offense but defense as well," said Rowe. "We are a very young team that has found a way to post some uncanny victories. We've had different people step up at different times to do the job for us."
This past Saturday, the Lady Flames trailed West Georgia by seven with just under a minute left to play and Kayla Beavers made a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Lee the 70-69 win.
"It is hard to get a team to play the way you would like for 40 minutes, but these girls certainly give us that kind of effort," admitted Rowe.
The Lady Flames will travel to Cleveland, Miss., to face Delta State University on Saturday for their first of five consecutive road games. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST.
"I'm excited to see how our team will react after having a few games under their belts and going on the road. We didn't handle it very well against West Florida and Valdosta. We will see how much we have grown since those two losses," added Rowe.
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