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The Lee women's basketball team will open up Gulf South Conference play on Thursday as it hosts Auburn Montgomery at 6 p.m. inside Walker Arena.

The Lady Flames split their two contests at the Nova Southeastern Thanksgiving Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. last weekend and are off to a 5-1 start on the young season. Lee fell to Embry-Riddle, 86-66 on Friday but bounced back in a big way to top the Sharks, 71-49 on Saturday.

After three straight wins to start the season coach Dan Davis and the Warhawks have suffered back to back loses at the hands of Young Harris (59-43) and Tuskegee (59-57).

Coach Marty Rowe and his ladies hold a commanding 18-3 advantage over the Warhawks in the all-time series. The two teams met twice a year for several seasons as members of the NAIA and will now renew their rivalry with AUM joining the NCAA as members of the GSC.

Coach Rowe's Thoughts
"We're excited to get into conference play this week, we've had a solid start in our non-conference so we're ready to get going in the GSC."

"AUM is much improved from last season and Coach Davis is one of my closest friends. They'll be ready to play Thursday night and we'll need to be ready to compete."

Lee Leaders
Erin Walsh leads the Lady Flames averaging 13.8 points per game. The sharpshooting senior has hit 19 of 43 3-pointers (44.2 percent) on the year. Senior forward Carrie Cheeks is averaging a near double-double with 11.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest.

As a team Lee is currently fourth in the league averaging right at 75 points per game while defensively the Lady Flames are second allowing opponents to score just 56.6 on average.

Eyeing the Warhawks
Jemayia Lee paces the Warhawk scoring with 13.4 a game and is also tied for the team lead in rebounds with 35.

Last time out in a loss to Tuskegee sophomore guard Aaliyah Milord led the Warhawks with 15 points to go with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.

On the year AUM averages 56.4 points per game and is giving up an average of 58.

The Warhawks are in a probationary period as they transition to NCAA Division II and are not eligible for postseason play this season.

NCAA Rankings
The Lady Flames will enter this week of play at No. 3 in the South Region rankings. Lee is the topped ranked GSC school with Sunshine State Conference teams Rollins and Embry-Riddle holding down the top two spots.

Lee is also receiving votes in the WBCA Top 25 poll this week.