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Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – The Lee women's basketball team opened the 2015-16 campaign in style with a convincing, 75-50 victory over Sunshine State Conference opponent Barry University on Friday afternoon.

Whatever was said in the locker room during the halftime break seemed to work wonders for the Lady Flames as they dominated the second half of competition outscoring the Lady Bucs, 42-16 after trailing by one at the intermission.
 
Christina Johnson led the way with a double-double performance for the Lady Flames scoring 18 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Sharpshooting wing, Erin Walsh was a perfect 4-of-4 from downtown and added 16 points to the winning effort. 

"We played hard and well on both ends of the court today, especially in the second half," said head coach Marty Rowe. "I thought it was a good sign that we took a punch from good, senior laden team in the second quarter and then responded after halftime."

Carrie Cheeks pitched in 11 points and grabbed six boards. Kayla Beavers came off the bench to nail three 3s to account for her nine points. 

The Lady Flames shot 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond-the-arc. The Lee defense limited Barry to just 12 percent (3-of-25) shooting in the second half and 30 percent from the field for the game.

Rowe's club dominated on the boards outrebounding the Florida club 46-24. Lee also held a commanding, 24-8 advantage on points in the pain. Lee did commit 19 turnovers while Barry was guilty of 11 floor mistakes.

Arma Ellezovic led the Lady Bucs with 17 points. Jackie Perez added 11 markers and dished off six assists.

All 14 players on the Lee roster saw time on the court much to the delight of coach Rowe, "It was great team effort and we got great minutes from everyone. We're looking forward to tomorrow's opportunity against Nova (Southeastern). They are really good and it's going to be great to get a chance to compete against them."

The Lady Flames square off with the host of the weekend tournament, No. 4 Nova Southeastern at 8 p.m. on Saturday evening.