In a game that saw the lead change 23 times between Gulf South Conference rival West Florida and host Lee University, the Argonauts were able to garner their own missed free throw in the final seconds that helped result in a 76-72 victory over the Lady Flames inside Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
The victory was surging West Florida's seventh straight win as they improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in GSC play. The Lady Flames dropped to 8-2 and 1-2. Lee will face a short turnaround and return to action on Monday at 6 p.m. when they host another tough conference opponent in Valdosta State.  

"West Florida just simply out toughed us down the stretch and deserved to win the game. We got outrebounded 26-8 in the second half. Missing those two free-throw-line box-outs late is something that can't happen when you're playing a good, physical team like West Florida," said Lee head coach Marty Rowe after the disappointing loss. "Coach (Stephanie) Yelton did a much better job of preparing her team today and I've got to figure out a way to get our players all on the same page for longer stretches in games."

With the clock ticking down, West Florida missed a free throw, but Zoe Piller was able to grab the rebound and was fouled. She marched to the line and made the two charity tosses to put the Argonauts on top for good. West Florida had 14 offensive rebounds in the contest and outrebounded the Lady Flames 43-26 overall, stats that deeply disappointed Coach Rowe. The visitors also outscored the Lady Flames 14-4 in second chance points.  

West Florida went on an 11-pointscoring run with 8:57 left in the fourth quarter after the Lady Flames had jumped on top earlier in the frame with a nine-point run. Lee had four players score in double figures. Haley Schubert finished with 18 while Julia Duncan, who came on strong in the fourth quarter, Halle Hughes and Anna Muhonen finished with 14 points apiece. 

Piller, only a freshman, made 8-of-10 free throws and finished with a game-high 22 points. Mandy Griffon tallied 14 points. Charlotte Ellmore added 12 and Gabby Brown tallied 11 markers. The visitors nailed 18-of-21 free throws while Lee went to the line just 10 times and made nine.  

The Lady Flames held the Argonauts leading scorer Jaclyn Jarnot to only nine points, but she did pull down 14 key rebounds. West Florida shot 43% from the field and Lee connected on 46% of their shots. The Lady Flames forced 19 turnovers and committed just 12 but rebounding proved to be the difference in the hotly contested contest.