Shelby Brown hit a three-pointer with 4.7 seconds remaining to give the Lee University women's basketball team a 64-61 Gulf South Conference (GSC) win over Shorter University Saturday evening in Paul Dana Walker Arena.

The Lady Flames finished the regular season with an overall record of 18-8 and 14-8 in the GSC. Shorter dropped to 12-16, 8-14 GSC.

Coach Marty Rowe explained how he and his staff drew up what turned out to be the winning bucket. "We wanted the basketball in Alex's (Swope) hand. We told her to penetrate and to look inside to see if anything was open. The second option was to go outside to Shelby (Brown). She is also an excellent outside shooter and we are glad we gave her the opportunity to win the game."

The Lady Flames lost leading scorer Emileigh Swafford midway of the first half to a knee injury. "We had a lot of young ladies step up and help us win this game against a very well coached Shorter team," said Rowe. "Caroline Smith played a big role and likely will be seeing a lot more minutes. Kayla (Beavers) also gave us some quality minutes. I'm just very proud of our entire group. To win 14 games in this conference with such a young basketball team is a special accomplishment. Our coaching staff has also been a big plus in our last two conference wins." 

The Lady Flames took time to honor seniors Alex Swope and Madison Lee during a ceremony prior to the men's game.

Erin Walsh led a trio of Lady Flames in double-figure scoring with 22 points. Brown was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc on her way to 15 points. The freshman forward added 10 rebounds to record her fourth double-double. Carrie Cheeks contributed 10 markers to go along with five rebounds.

Kayla Beavers made two three-pointers to finish with eight points. Swope threw in four more, while Caroline Smith and Lee added three and two points, respectively.

Shorter benefitted from a game-high 25 points from Ieshia Alexander. Alexander also had five rebounds and three steals. Tamarr Williams and Jackie Hudson tallied 10 points each.

Lee made nearly 41 percent (24-for-59) of their shots from the field and 8-of-26 (.308) from behind the arc. The Lady Hawks were held to 18-of-53 (.340) from the floor, but made 5-of-12 (.417) attempts from distance. Shorter held a large advantage at the free throw line after making 20-of-24 attempts, while the Lady Flames were 8-for-11.

Shorter held a 37-32 advantage in the rebound battle and a 10-8 margin in offensive rebounds. Both teams recorded seven second-chance points.

The Lee bench supplied over half of the team's offensive output with 36 points. The Lady Hawks received 16 markers from their players off the bench.

The Lady Flames will take a couple days off before turning their attention to the NCCAA Mid-East Region Tournament. Lee will take on Hiwassee College on Thursday, March 5, in the first semifinal game. Tennessee Temple University and Bluefield College will match up in the other semifinal.