VALDOSTA, Georgia – It is on to the championship round of the Gulf South Conference tournament for the Lee women's basketball team as they gained sweet revenge over host Valdosta State with a spine-tingling 74-71 victory. The Lady Flames advanced to face an old rival in Union University on Sunday at 2 p.m. The championship game will be played at a neutral site, the University of Auburn Montgomery.
"I'm so proud of this team and the way they're battling as a group. We showed such toughness those last few plays on both ends of the court," said Coach Marty Rowe after the victory. "Being able to fight through foul trouble, losing the lead but then finding a way to win says a lot about this team. Great win over a really good team!"
It was heroics in the final minute for the Lady Flames. Julia Duncan converted her third 3-point shot of the game to put Lee up 74-71. Seconds later, Maddie Long came up with a huge steal to secure the victory.
The Lady Flames were led in scoring by Haley Schubert who produced a solid 24-point effort, grabbed five rebounds and dished off three assists. Hannah Garrett canned three treys and finished the contest with 13 points. The balanced scoring continued as Halle Hughes tallied 11 points and made 3-of-4 3-point attempts. Long was 4-of-4 shooting, came away with five rebounds and totaled 10 points. Duncan finished with nine markers while Camryn Grant had six rebounds before leaving the contest with five fouls.
Lee got off to a quick start leading 26-12 at the end of the first quarter and built up a 16-point lead with 4:47 left in the second period before Valdosta rallied back to cut the lead to 47-37 at halftime. The Blazers continued to chip away at the Lee lead by outscoring the Lady Flames 16-13 in the third quarter and actually took the lead in the fourth frame when they put 18 points on the board to just 14 for Lee. However, key shots down the stretch produced the victory for Coach Marty Rowe's team and sent them into the championship game on Sunday.
The Lady Flames shot 46% from the field, making 27 field goals and were solid from 3-point range converting 12-of-27. They were awarded 12 free throws and made eight.
Valdosta countered with Kayla Bonilla who tallied 17 points. Alexandria Smith finished with 15 points and seven rebounds while Kwajelin Farrar produced a big double-double, 13 points and 13 rebounds. Delaney Bernard gave the Blazers four players in double figures with 11 points. Valdosta had a solid shooting night 43% from the floor and also 43% (9-of-21) from beyond the arc. They had 14 free throws and canned 10.
