Box Score Four straight 3-point shots with under four minutes remaining helped the Lee women's basketball team turn back a stubborn Alabama Huntsville team on Thursday evening in Walker Arena. The victory allowed the Lady Flames, 12-4, in Gulf South Conference play to move into a second-place tie with Delta State University. The Lady Statesmen were upset by West Florida on Thursday.
Erin Walsh and Kayla Beavers nailed two key treys apiece and put the Lady Flames on top 56-49 with 3:05 remaining. Huntsville fought back and it took a free-throw by Carrie Cheeks to help seal the 61-60 victory. Lee will return to action again on Saturday and host a North Alabama team that almost upset Shorter University on Thursday.
"You can never take anything for granted in this conference," stated coach Marty Rowe after his club improved to 14-6 overall. He praised the rebounding effort of senior Christina Johnson, who finished with 14 rebounds. "We really didn't want to play Christina that much because of an ankle injury but with Cheeks in foul trouble she was the only other player we had going to the glass. We will go to work on getting that straightened out in Friday's practice."
Beavers, who finished with four 3-pointers, was Lee's leading scorer with 12 points. Walsh, after one of her slowest starts of the season, rebounded late and tallied 11 markers. Cheeks had 10 points and five rebounds, while freshman Anna Woodford pitched in with 10 points.
The Lady Flames out-rebounded the Chargers 37-36. They also committed only 11 turnovers, while Huntsville was guilty of 17. Despite shooting just 33 percent from the field and improving to 39 percent from behind the arc, Lee still found a way to post the victory. On the other hand, Huntsville shot 40 percent from the field and 47 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range. The Chargers hit 15-of-22 free throws, while Lee got only 14 freebies and made eight.
Gina Saunders and Chandler Elder had 16 points apiece for the losers, while Halle Jarnagin finished with 10 points.
The Lady Flames will join with the men's club in hosting Hoops 4 Hope on Saturday afternoon. The women's contest gets underway at 2 p.m. while the men follow at 4 p.m.
