It is likely you would have to dig deep into the Lee archives to maybe find the Lady Flames playing five games in one season against the same team. Coach Marty Rowe says it has never happened during his 17 years of coaching Lee basketball. But that is exactly what will happen on Friday evening at 8 p.m. when the Lady Flames and Valdosta State tangle for the fifth time this season at the UNG (University of North Georgia) Convocation Center in Dahlonega, Georgia.
The Lady Flames will be making their fifth straight appearance in NCAA South Region play. "It is exciting to be a part of the NCAA National tournament again, although this regional will have a different look," pointed out coach Marty Rowe. "I mean it is unusual to be playing the same team for a fifth time in a year, but at the same time it's exciting. We have a lot of respect for Valdosta State as a team and know how good they are. But you only play good teams at this point. We are looking forward to the challenge and honestly just enjoying the postseason experience."
Six teams are slated to battle in the NCAA DII South Region and four are from the Gulf South Conference while two will represent the Peach Belt Conference. The South Region was realigned when the Sunshine State opted out of playing enough contests to be eligible for the tournament.
The Lady Flames are ranked sixth in the region while Valdosta is listed as third best although the two clubs split four games this season and Lee eliminated the Lady Blazers in the semifinal round of the GSC tournament.
Union University, the winner of the GSC championship, is ranked fourth and Montevallo is fifth. North Georgia (17-1) the host team, holds the top seed and lost only one regular season game to Lander College (17-1). The Nighthawks bounced back to win the Peach Belt championship game. The winner of the Lee, Valdosta contest will face Lander (Saturday, 8 p.m.), who along with North Georgia drew a first-round bye. The Union, Montevallo winner will be pitted against North Georgia.
The South Region winner advances to the final eight which will be played in Columbus, Ohio.
Lee won in Valdosta in the Gulf South Conference semifinals, 74-71. VSU won the regular-season series, 2-1, winning in Valdosta in December and split two games in Cleveland in January. Over the four meetings only 22 points separated the two squads.
The Lady Flames were primed and waiting to host the South Region tournament last March when the NCAA dropped the curtain on all sports for 2020. With a pair of key players missing from this year's squad, the Lady Flames are led in scoring by junior Haley Schubert who averages 18.5 points per game, 5.5 rebounds and has dished off a team-leading 108 assists. Junior transfer Hannah Garrett follows at 12.2 ppg and has stepped out beyond the arc to convert 35 3-pointers but it is freshman Julia Duncan who leads the team in that department with 40 triples. Duncan is averaging 12.1 points per game. Senior Halle Hughes totals eight points per game and 5.3 rebounds. Senior Maddie Long has come on strong late in the season and has made several key plays on the defensive end.
Lee did a better job of slowing down Kayla Bonilla in the semifinal win. She still scored 17 points and is second in scoring for the Lady Blazers (13.6 ppg). The balanced VSU attack has Kwajelin Farrar leading the way with 14 points per game and 9.9 rebounds. Alexandria Smith follows with 9.8 ppg and Jirah Ards adds 8.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg.
