CHATTANOOGA – UT Chattanooga jumped out to a 23-8 lead against slow starting Lee on Tuesday evening and handed the Lady Flames a 71-55 defeat in McKenzie Arena.
"Give UTC credit, they got us on our heels early and we didn't respond well. We've got to do a better job of preparing our team to be ready from the first tip," said Lee head coach Marty Rowe after the exhibition defeat to the Mocs.
The Lady Flames fought back in the second quarter and actually cut the Mocs lead down to 10 points by outscoring the host club 19-16 in the period. "I'm encouraged by how we fought to try and dig out that first quarter hole but we just made too many mistakes," noted Rowe.
The Mocs, led by Lakelyn Bouldin and Eboni Williams (17 points apiece), outscored the Lady Flames 15-13 in the third frame and 17-15 in the final period. Bria Dial was the only other UTC player in double figures with 13, but four other Mocs contributed to the final scoring total.
The Lady Flames held their own on the boards against the taller UTC players, losing the rebounding battle 39-35. Abbey Cornelius grabbed 10 boards in the win.
Turnovers were factors for both clubs. Lee was whistled for 25 floor mistakes and the Mocs 22. The winners made 22-of-50 field goal attempts (44 percent). Lee made 21-of-57 (37 percent). UTC was awarded 32 free throws and canned 20. Lee went to the stripe only 15 times and made 10.
Abby Bertram paced Lee's scoring with 14 points. Haley Schubert added 12 and Camryn Grant finished with 11. Grant also had six rebounds. Nicky Widenski and Becca Cheeks had four boards each.
The Lady Flames will play their final exhibition game on Saturday (noon) to tipoff homecoming when they host Grace College (Indiana). "We'll look forward to preparing for Saturday and see if we can learn from this experience," concluded Coach Rowe.
The Lee men will also face an old NAIA rival in Tennessee Wesleyan (2 p.m.) in the final hoop contest of the afternoon.
