With senior Hannah Garrett leading the way, the Lee women's basketball team defeated visiting Alabama Huntsville 73-45 on Saturday afternoon inside Walker Arena. The victory improved the Lady Flames to 10-2 overall and 3-2 in Gulf South Conference play. The Chargers dropped to 1-8, 0-4. 

Garrett was 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc in finishing the contest with a game-leading 17 points. She also had five rebounds. Haley Schubert, who battled foul problems, finished with 11 points but dished off four assists and came away with four steals. Freshman Anna Muhonen tallied 10 points and pulled down 10 boards.  

Senior Halle Hughes filled up the stat line with nine rebounds, six assists and three steals while scoring five points. The Lady Flames out-rebounded the Chargers 46-28 and had 22 assists to only six for the Huntsville club. Lee shot 47% from the field but only 31% from 3-point range. They were awarded seven free throws and made five.  

The Lee defense held the Chargers to only 29% shooting from the floor and 15% of their 3-point attempts. The visitors did make 11-of-13 charity attempts. Majah Bullock paced the Huntsville scoring with 11 points and was also the top rebounder with six. Selena Pruitt finished with 10 points. 

"Today was a great way to end our semester. We did a lot of things well on both ends of the court. This was a dangerous game due to the break, so for us to compete with purpose was a great sign," noted Lee coach Marty Rowe. "A big key today was being able to stretch our lead without Haley (Schubert) most of the third quarter. We have to continue to find ways to play at a high level when she's off the court." 

Lee led 22-15 at the end of the first quarter and 38-26 at the halftime break but they stretched their lead to 55-36 by the end of three periods and never looked back. As their lead increased, it allowed Coach Rowe and his staff an opportunity to play his entire team and 12 of the 13 players dressed out scored.  

"This gave several of our reserves a chance to build on their confidence," explained Rowe. "Morgan (Carbaugh), Cam (Grant), Haylee (Johnson) and Addison (Smith) all played well. With Haley (Schubert) in foul trouble, I was pleased with the way several players stepped up." 

The Lady Flames will break for the holidays until Jan. 2 when they travel to face Auburn Montgomery. "We're looking forward to giving the team some time off to spend with their families and want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas," added Coach Rowe.