VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Lee University women's basketball team moved to 6-0 in games following a loss with a 54-46 defeat of host Valdosta State University. The Lady Flames improved to 14-6 overall and remain in sole possession of third place in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) with an 11-4 conference mark. Ahead of Lee are Union University (13-2) and Delta State (12-3). Shorter University and West Florida are tied for fourth at 10-5.
"It's a huge win," said Lee head coach Marty Rowe. "They (Valdosta State) are a big, physical ball team, so coming back from playing 50 minutes two days ago and playing well shows this team's character. We need to figure out how to get that No. 2 or 3 seed, so we'll have an opportunity to host an opening game of the GSC Tournament."
Erin Walsh made four 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 20 points. The sophomore added two assists and a rebound.
Anna Woodford and Haris Price joined Walsh in double-digit scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Woodford also grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists.
"Tori (Lentz) was huge for us today," added Rowe. "Christina was sore after all those minutes played on Thursday. Jordan (Neuharth) played really hard and gave us great minutes today."
Lentz tallied one point and five rebounds in 14 minutes played, while Johnson grabbed four defensive rebounds. Neuharth tied Shelby Brown for the game high of seven rebounds to go along with three assists. Brown also contributed seven points to the win.
Lee out-rebounded the Lady Blazers (10-10, 6-9 GSC) by a 36-33 margin. The Lady Flames made 19-of-47 (.404) shots from the floor and were 7-for-24 (.292) from behind the arc. Valdosta State was 14-for-52 (.269) from the field and canned 8-of-29 (.276) three-point attempts.
No big advantage was gained at the free throw line. Lee converted 9-of-12 (.750) attempts, while VSU was successful in 10 of their 14 trips (.714).
Valdosta State was led by Lydia Harvey's 14 points. Aaliyah Cheatham was the only other Lady Blazer in double digits with 11 markers. Aliyah Johnson was the team leader with six rebounds.
The Lady Flames will return home to face The University of Alabama in Huntsville for the first of four consecutive GSC home dates.
"We have to protect our home," concluded Rowe. "We need to win our home games so we'll be in good position heading into the final three GSC games on the road."
