JACKSON, Tenn. – Playing in yet another nail biting Gulf South Conference contest the Lee women's basketball team outlasted Union University, 74-69 on Saturday afternoon.
The two longtime rivals staged yet another epic battle with Union cutting a nine-point deficit to just three at 70-67 with just 1:24 remaining before clutch foul shots and defense from junior Erin Walsh propelled the Lady Flames to the road victory.
Carrie Cheeks led the way for the Lady Flames with 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field and seven rebounds, five coming on the offensive end. Walsh added 13 points and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the foul line. Haley Cornellison provided a punch off the bench with 11 points and Lindsey Roddy rounded out a balanced scoring attack with 10 points.
"We switched up the lineup today to match up with their four guards and I thought everyone responded well," said head coach Marty Rowe. "We got a total team effort today with solid performance from Jenna Scoggins, Tori Lentz, Haley Cornellison and Anna Woodford."
Gaines paced the Union effort with 19 points. Jada Smith tallied 15 points while Jada Perkins had 11 markers and dished off five assists.
Shots were falling for the Lady Flames throughout the contest as they posted a 49 percent mark from the field while drilling 8 of 20 3-pointers (40 percent). Lee also hit 14 of 18 from the charity stripe including four key makes in the final seconds by Walsh.
In addition to shooting the basketball well the Lady Flames defended the 3-point line holding a usually dangerous Lady Bulldogs' squad to just 3 of 16 shooting (18 percent) from beyond the arc.
Union held a 40-29 advantage on the glass thanks in large part to 20 offensive rebounds.
The closely contested battle featured nine ties and five lead changes. The two teams each took care of the basketball with committing 12 turnovers and Union guilty of just 10.
"We preached after Thursday's loss about playing as one and playing as a team instead of just for ourselves," noted Rowe. "That showed up in a big way tonight. We played together as one team and that was the difference in the game."
After seeing large leads dissipate in two of their last three games the Lady Flames posted 39 points in the second half to protect a three-point halftime lead.
The win moves the Lady Flames to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in the GSC. The Lady Bulldogs fall to 9-7 and are 4-6 in league play.
Lee will wind up a three-game road swing with a visit to Florence to take on the GSC front-runner, North Alabama on Thursday evening. The Lady Flames will return home on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. to host Alabama Huntsville.
