CARROLLTON, Ga. – Life on the road in the Gulf South Conference is never easy and the Lee women's basketball team found that out on Saturday afternoon in losing at West Georgia, 74-69.
The Lady Flames, coming off a huge victory over No. 6 Union on Thursday at home, appeared poised to carry that momentum over today's contest as they jumped out to a 40-29 advantage at the half and led by as many as 12 (51-39) with 3:51 left in the third period before the Wolves roared back.
West Georgia closed the third on a 9-0 run capped off by a pair of Aysha Harris free throws. Harris finished with 24 points, 12 of which came from the charity stripe. Kilah Nixon gave the home team a 58-56 lead they would never relinquish after swiping a steal and going coast to coast with 6:29 left in the fourth quarter.
"Give West Georgia all the credit they just out played us and out hustled us today," said head coach Marty Rowe. "I've said it before but this league is good top to bottom that you can lose, especially on the road, anytime if you don't out ready to play. Thursday we had people step up and make plays in big spots and today we just didn't respond with urgency, especially when they made that run in the third."
Lindsey Roddy led the Lady Flames with 19 points on 8 of 16 shooting from the field. Abby Bertram added 14 points and hit three triples. Haley Schubert followed with 12 points.
Jessica Brown scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds while A'Kia Harris dominated the glass with 13 rebounds. West Georgia held a 42-30 rebounding advantage, including an incredible 19 offensive rebounds.
The Lady Flames showcased their league-best defense allowing the Wolves to shoot just 36.5 percent from the field but 18 second chance points and 23 free throws proved to be the difference.
Lee has already wrapped one of the top four seeds in the GSC Tournament allowing them to host the opening round on Mar. 5. The loss drops the Lady Flames to 21-6 and 15-4 in league play. West Georgia improves their postseason hopes with the upset win and moves to 15-10 and 10-9 in conference play.
The Lady Flames will wrap up the regular season on Thursday in Walker Arena as they host rival Shorter at 6 p.m.
