Guided by a balanced scoring attack and smothering defense the Lee women's basketball team defeated Alabama Huntsville, 72-56 on Saturday afternoon from Walker Arena.
The Lady Flames jumped out to a 21-12 lead and never look back en route to their fourth straight victory over the Chargers. Lee has won six of seven overall against the Alabama club.
Carrie Cheeks posted 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Erin Walsh followed with 14 points on 6 for 11 shooting from the field. Point guard Abby Bertram registered 13 points and dished off seven assists while Anna Woodford made it four players in double-figures with her 10 points.
Walsh's 14 points move her into a tie for 15th place on Lee's all-time scoring list. The junior is totaled 1,232 points. Up next on the list is Stacy Felchner with 1,299.
The stingy Lee defense forced the Chargers into 19 turnovers, swatted away four shots and ripped off 10 steals. The Lady Flames dominated the glass holding a 43-34 edge over UAH while securing 13 offensive boards, leading to 12 second-chance points.
"I thought today we did a nice job bouncing back after a tough loss on Thursday. Our girls have shown that ability this year and tonight was no different," said assistant coach Jan Spangler. "We had a good practice yesterday and talked about looking to get the ball inside and cleaning up some things with our guards. Â I thought you saw that tonight, we did a better job of executing and now the test for us is to sustain this and respond to this win on Thursday with a similar performance."
UAH was led in scoring by Chandler Elder with 21 points. Elder went to the foul 16 times and cashed in 11. Baylee Johnson followed 19 points while Morgan Tipton canned three triples for her nine points to go along with six rebounds.
Lee finished the game at 40 percent shooting (25 of 63) and hit seven 3s. The Chargers were limited to just 17 field goals and converted 5 of 18 from beyond the arc. The Chargers fall to 2-14 on the year and 1-10 in league play.Â
"Moving forward we need to execute and make sure we limit silly mistakes and turnovers and just understand what we're trying to accomplish as a group," said Spangler. Hopefully we will see a positive carryover from this game on Thursday.
The Lady Flames improved to 12-5 overall and are 7-4 in the GSC. Lee will welcome Union to town on Thursday for a 6 p.m. tip. The game will be carried on ESPN 3 and the first 1,000 fans will receive a "white out" t-shirt and rally towel.
