The Lee University women's basketball opened 2021-22 season with an impressive 63-44 victory over Florida Southern in the first round of the GSC/SSC Regional Crossover on Friday afternoon inside Walker Arena. In the opening game, Saint Leo defeated Alabama Huntsville 76-67.  

All four teams will be back in action on Saturday. Florida Southern will face Alabama Huntsville at 1 p.m. followed by the Lady Flames and Saint Leo at 3 p.m. 

"That was a really solid win over a very talented and well coached team," said Lee Coach Marty Rowe after the win over Florida Southern. "I thought we competed hard on the defensive end and were relentless on the boards for most of the game. There is still so much to clean up on both ends, but it is definitely important to get off to a good start. We'll need a short memory because Saint Leo is very good, and we'll have to be ready to go on Saturday." 
 
Defense was the name of the game for the Lady Flames in the first half. The Mocs were held to only 10 points and under 17% shooting in the first half. Lee held a 29-10 lead at the break. Florida Southern picked up the defensive intensity in the third period and also the scoring pace, outscoring the Lady Flames 18-12 and cutting the margin to 41-28. The Mocs cut deeper into the lead before the Lady Flames outscored the visitors 22-16 in the final frame to pull away. 
 
Haley Schubert led the Lee scoring with 17 points. She also had six rebounds and six assists. Julia Duncan had a solid game with 14 points and three steals.  Hannah Garrett finished with nine points and Anna Muhonen tallied eight. Camryn Grant led the rebounding with 12 and Halle Hughes pulled down 10 to lead Lee in that department.  
 
Lee shot 40% from the field and held the visitors to only 25%. The Lady Flames outrebounded the Mocs 50-33. "That is an area we've been working on to improve during all our practice sessions," pointed out Coach Rowe. Lee had 14 points off turnovers and outscored Florida Southern 36-18 in points in the paint, 17-7 in second chance points but the Mocs outscored the Lady Flames 20-16 in points off the bench. 
 
Whitney Jacob was the only Florida Southern player in double-figure scoring with 11. She also had six rebounds. Marissa Jenike came off the bench to tally nine points and Arielle Dabu also came on in a reserve role to tally seven points. Paula Real led her team in rebounding with eight.