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CARROLLTON, Ga. – Paced by Freshman Haris Price and senior Kayla Beavers the Lee women's basketball team used a 22-7 run to pull away late and defeat West Georgia, 67-52 on Saturday afternoon to open up 2016.

Price picked up right where she left off before the Christmas break with a team-high 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field including three treys. Beavers provided a big spark of the bench with five triples to account for her 15 points.

The score was deadlocked at 45-45 with eight minutes left in the fourth period before senior Christina Johnson drained a 3-pointer to spark the late run and lead the Lady Flames to their fifth straight victory.

"Christina hit a big shot for us and we played really well down the stretch to come away with this victory," said head coach Marty Rowe. "This was a tough draw for us out of the layoff because of their unorthodox defensive style but I thought we did a pretty good job of handling it and made some big shots to go along with big stops."

Johnson finished with 10 points and added nine rebounds. Carrie Cheeks played around foul trouble and added eight points and eight boards.

Lee held a 33-24 advantage on the glass while doubling up the Wolves in the post by a 20-10 margin. The Lady Flames forced 14 turnovers and were guilty of 17.

"I was really proud of how we took a punch and handled their run with a run of our own in the fourth period," noted Rowe. "All the teams in our league are talented and well coached and come tournament time you won't see many blow outs so I like how we handled the adversity today."

Terriana Cave led the way for the Wolves with 21 points. Katrina Littlepage added 13 points and five assists while A'Kia Harris pulled down 10 rebounds.

Lee shot 41.8 percent (23 of 55) from the field and hit 11 triples in the contest. West Georgia was held to just 25.4 percent (15 of 59) from the field and went 7 of 28 (25 percent) from the 3-point line.
 
The win improves the Lady Flames to 9-4 overall and 6-1 in the Gulf South Conference (GSC). Rowe's club remains tied for first with No. 22 Delta State. 

West Georgia falls to 2-11 on the year and 2-5 in league play. Coach Rowe was quick to point out that the Wolves' record might be misleading, "I don't think this is a team that very many people will want to play down the road. They are very athletic and really well coached and give them credit they made some shots and fought back into the game."

Lee will head to West Alabama on Monday night at 6:30 p.m. before hosting 9 of the next 11 in the friendly confines of Walker Arena beginning on Saturday, Jan. 9 with Delta State.