SAINT LEO, Fla. – Host Saint Leo turned back a late rally by the Lee women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon and handed the Lady Flames a 68-63 defeat in the final game of the Hampton Garden Inn Classic. It was the second victory in the event by the Lions. The host club defeated Alabama Huntsville on Friday afternoon.
The hard-fought contest saw the Lady Flames trail until Addison Smith scored eight straight points (including a pair of 3-pointers) to tie the game at 63. However, the determined Lions came right back behind the play of Amanda Ulrich and held on down the stretch.
After scoring 97 points on Friday and shooting over 60% from 3-point range, Lee hit only 4-of-16 attempts from beyond the circle on Saturday (25%). On the other hand, Saint Leo rode the hot-shooting of Alex Button, who nailed 4-of-5 treys and finished with 22 points. Ulrich tallied 20 points and had four rebounds to go along with three assists.
The Lions outrebounded the Lady Flames 35-31 with Kiki McIntyre and Jumoke Adaramoye pulling down seven boards apiece. In a game that saw both teams allowed to play physically until the final minutes, Lee was whistled for 17 fouls and Saint Leo 16. The Lions made 9-of-12 freebies and Lee connected on 11-of-14.
Haley Schubert paced the Lee scoring with 27 points. She made 10-of-19 shots from the field and the Lady Flames shot 46% (24-of-52). Smith followed with 15 points, including 3-of-5 from long range. Mallory Hampton was saddled with early foul problems but led the Lady Flames with eight rebounds, Smith finished with six and Anna Muhonen five.
"Give Saint Leo credit, they outplayed us and deserved to win the game," said Coach Marty Rowe after his team dropped to 1-1 on the year. "We will be able to learn a lot from this game on both ends of the court.
"I have to do a much better job in practice next week in helping our team understand the importance of executing on both sides of the ball," he concluded.
The Lady Flames will return to Cleveland and then get back on the road again on Thursday when they travel to Valdosta State to open Gulf South Conference play. The tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. It is right back to Florida on Saturday when Lee is slated to be in Pensacola for a battle against West Florida (3 p.m.). Both events are part of a doubleheader. The Flames saw their weekend plans cancelled due to the hurricane at Embry Riddle (Daytona Beach) and will officially open their season at Valdosta State.
