WINONA LAKE, Ind. – For the third straight year, the Lee women's basketball team will be playing in the championship game. The Lady Flames defeated old rival Emmanuel College 54-44 on Thursday evening and advanced to the final round of the NCCAA National Championship. They will face Bethesda University (Calif.) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Lady Flames never trailed and led by as much as 18 points in the second half (10:56). Emmanuel never quit fighting and cut the lead down to the final 10-point margin on a couple of occasions.
The Lady Flames attack was paced by Erin Walsh with 18 points. Shelby Brown followed with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Christina Johnson carded 10 points and five rebounds. Carrie Cheeks pitched in with seven points and garnered eight rebounds.
"We didn't shoot the ball that well this evening, but for the most part I thought we got a good effort defensively," said coach Marty Rowe. "Overall, it was a good team win. Anytime you beat a Mike Bona coached team, you have given a good effort. He's won over 600 games because he is a good coach."
Lee won the contest despite not shooting well from the field, making 20-of-51 shots (39 percent). The 3-pointers were not falling in either half and the Lady Flames were able to knock down only 4-of-21 attempts. They were awarded 15 free throws and canned 10.
Timia Reynolds paced the Emmanuel scoring with 17 points. She made 3-of-5 3-pointers. Elise Coberly added 10 points and was the only other Lion in double-digit scoring. Lee's defense held Emmanuel to 32 percent shooting from the field but the Lions made 6-of-13 treys and knocked down 12-of-15 free throws.
Coach Rowe praised the rebounding effort of his club. "We out-rebounded a team that averages getting 12 more rebounds a game than their opponents," he said. "We got a lot of loose ball rebounds and a lot of long kick-outs. That shows we were getting some extra effort from Caroline Smith and Jordan Neuharth."
All totaled, Lee out-rebounded the Lions 33-18. They also forced Emmanuel into 19 floor mistakes but at the same time were guilty of 17.
Rowe said his team would not change a thing as they head into the championship contest. "We've got one more day of practice and one more game to get better and that's what we are striving for," he noted. "I want our girls to enjoy this experience and if we are able to win a championship, that's just a little something extra."
