In a battle for second place in the GSC East standings on Friday evening, the Lee women's basketball team with stood foul problems late in the physical contest and were able to avenge two earlier losses to the University of Montevallo. The host Lady Flames outscored the visitors 21-8 in the final period to claim the 73-59 victory. The same two clubs will tangle again inside Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m.).
"It was a great win for our team tonight. Montevallo is really good offensively and we were good enough to get some stops in key spots," proclaimed Lee coach Marty Rowe after his club improved to 11-5 and the Falcons dropped to 10-4.
The Lady Flames stayed in serious foul trouble most of the game and team-leader Haley Schubert went to the Lee bench with four fouls midway of the final period. "It was really good to see our team battle through foul trouble. It was a big key for us being able to extend the lead when Haley picked up her fourth foul. We'll need to be even better tomorrow afternoon," pointed out Rowe.
The Falcons led 20-17 at the first break and Lee jumped back on top 39-36 at halftime. The battle was evenly contested in a tough third quarter and the Lady Flames were able to claim a 52-51 lead. The Lady Flames fought their way through foul problems in the final period to claim the win.
Lee got efforts up and down the board in the victory. Schubert, who went over the 1,000-point mark in her outstanding junior career, finished with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Junior Hannah Garrett made three big 3-point shots and turned in an 18-point effort. She also had seven rebounds and four assists. Julia Duncan also canned three 3-pointers and the freshman totaled 12 points.
Junior Camryn Grant came off the bench to help salt the victory, producing a double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds. Coach Rowe said it was the type of play his coaching staff had been looking for. Senior Maddie Long also nailed a pair of triples and finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Halle Hughes gave the Lady Flames over 33 minutes of solid action. Most of her work will not appear on the stat chart but the senior had five points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Falcons were led by Jordan Jones, who had 16 points and seven rebounds. Kourtnie Smith followed with 11 points. Marisa Snodgrass, who scored 29 points in Lee's last meeting with Montevallo, finished with 10 points while Kyla Sain pitched in with nine.
Lee shot 42% overall (25-of-60) and 35% from long range (12-of-34). The Lady Flames struggled at the free-throw line, converting 11-of-19. The Falcons were held to 30% shooting from the field (16-of-53) and made just 26% of 3-point attempts (6-of-23). The visitors were awarded 30 charity tosses and canned 21. Lee held a 20-14 margin in points in the paint and 25-18 advantage in points from turnovers.
