LYNCHBURG, Virginia – The Liberty University Flames turned up the heat in the second and third periods, outscoring Lee University 46-20 in coasting to a 75-39 Thursday afternoon victory. The win pushed the DI Flames to 12-1 on the year while the Lady Flames dropped to 10-3.
Liberty quickly scheduled the contest with Lee after Thursday's scheduled opponent canceled because of a COVID outbreak. Coach Marty Rowe agreed to take his Lady Flames to Lynchburg in order to help get them ready to begin Gulf South Conference play at Auburn Montgomery on Sunday at 3 p.m. (EST).
Liberty held a 20-10 lead at the end of the first quarter of play but held Lee to only 10 more points in the second period and garnered a commanding 43-20 halftime advantage. There was no looking back the rest of the way for the host club.
"No excuses, we just didn't compete the entire 40 minutes. Liberty is long, athletic and skilled at every position. So if we were going have a chance against this type of team, we have got to execute at a much higher level than we did today," explained Coach Rowe.
"Honestly though, it's exactly what we needed as a team. Hopefully, it helps some people and myself get out of our comfort zones so we can work on getting better before Sunday at AUM," Rowe added. "This was a crazy couple of days and having only practiced two times in 11 days really showed, but I'm glad Liberty reached out to us and gave us the opportunity to play."
The host Flames dominated the boards, outrebounding the Lady Flames 42-21. Bella Smuda had a double-double, 18 points and 12 rebounds to pace the winners. Bridgette Rettstatt followed with 17 points and Myra Berkman pitched in with 17 points. Liberty marched to the free-throw line 24 times and converted 18. Lee was awarded only six and made four.
Hannah Garrett led Lee's scoring with eight points and had a pair of triples. Micah Black, Ally Welfel and Macy Woodworth came off the bench to tally six points each. Black joined Garrett with two 3-pointers. Woodworth led Lee's rebounders with four.
The Lady Flames shot only 28% from the field but improved to 32% from 3-point range. Liberty nailed 53% from the field but converted 29% of 3-point attempts. The Flames outscored Lee 34-8 in points in the paint and 23-6 in points off turnovers. The biggest lead of the game came in the third period when they exploded to a 61-31 margin with 4:05 remaining.
