DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The Lee women's basketball team saw its season come to end on Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament falling to Valdosta State, 74-64. The South Region Tournament was hosted by the University of North Georgia.
The Lady Flames stumbled out of the gate falling behind 14-0 and 20-4 after the first quarter before battling all the way back to cut the deficit to just one possession at 50-48 with 2:04 left in the third quarter. The Lady Blazers regained their footing however and opened the fourth on an 11-0 run to effectively put the game away.
"We dug ourselves a huge hole being down 14-0. Just came out a little unsure of ourselves and that's not indictive of this team and the way we've played all season," said Lee head coach Marty Rowe. "I'm proud of the way we fought back and got it down to a one possession game but credit to Valdosta they made the plays when they needed to."
Junior All-GSC guard Haley Schubert led the Lady Flames with 22 points and nailed 5 of 7 from the 3-point line before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Schubert averaged 18.9 points per game on the season.
"I think we knew what we were doing wrong, and we came out with a different mentality in the second quarter but like coach said we just dug ourselves too big of a hole after the first quarter," said Schubert. "We made the adjustments and got the momentum back in the second and third quarters and most of the fourth and felt like we had the game there but just couldn't finish it off."
The Lady Flames converted just one field goal in the forgettable first period but climbed back in the game with 50 percent shooting (12 of 24) in the second and third quarters. Lee shot 31.6 percent from the field for the game and connected on eight triples.
Hannah Garrett added 11 points and Macy Woodworth gave Lee a spark off the bench with 10 points in 18 minutes on a perfect 3 of 3 shooting from the field while going 4 of 4 from the foul line.
"It's a unique experience to play a team five times in one season and its tough. They know us and we know them. I'll be honest, when we played in conference the officiating let us both play and be physical and that wasn't the case tonight which got us in foul trouble on some questionable calls. But Valdosta State is here for a reason, they are good, and we need to be better, especially early on," concluded Rowe. Lee went 2-3 on the year against Valdosta State and were 1-1 in the postseason. The Lady Flames defeated VSU just last week in the GSC Semifinals, 74-71.
Jirah Ards led the Lady Blazers with 23 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Kayla Bonilla added 17 points and dished off seven assists. Kwajelin Farrar posted 16 points and nine rebounds. Alexandria Smith also grabbed nine rebounds as the Georgia club dominated the glass holding a 42-26 advantage.
The Lady Flames finish the season at 15-8 and have now advanced to the NCAA Tournament five straight seasons. Lee holds a 1-4 mark in tournament games. Valdosta State (18-3) advances to the regional semifinal to take on the No. 2 seed Lander Lady Bearcats on Saturday at 8 p.m.
