PENSACOLA, Florida – The Lee women's basketball team sank key free throws down the stretch and gained revenge for an early season loss to the University of West Florida. The 73-65 victory gives the Lady Flames a two-game lead on third place in the GSC standings with three games remaining.
The Lady Flames will return to action on Monday evening at 6 p.m. when they host the University of West Alabama in a makeup contest. They will return to regular season play on Thursday, testing Christian Brothers and will entertain Union University in a key showdown inside Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
The win over the Argonauts was far from easy. Lee fell behind 20-13 at the end of the first period but came back strong in the second stanza, tallying 23 points and taking a 36-34 halftime advantage. The Lady Flames managed a four-point lead, 53-49 after three periods, setting up the exciting finish.
Cam Grant and Julia Duncan marched to the free-throw line in the final seconds to convert five free throws to help the Lady Flames secure the victory. All totaled,
Lee made 19-of-24 freebies in the win. On the other hand, West Florida struggled at the line, canning just 16-of-31.
"I'm really proud of this team, not so much for winning the game but more for how we responded after Thursday. This is the time of year when toughness down the stretch wins games and I thought we played tough and with a sense of purpose today," explained a pleased Coach Marty Rowe after his Lady Flames posted their 20
th win of the season against five defeats. They stand at 13-4 in GSC play. West Florida drops to 18-7 overall and 12-6. It was only the Argos second home loss of the year.
Haley Schubert paced the Lady Flames scoring with 22 points and grabbed six rebounds. Duncan returned after being sidelined with a concussion protocol and finished with 14 points and three assists. She was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Halle Hughes totaled 10 points and four rebounds. Grant had a big night with eight markers but cleaned the glass with 12 huge rebounds as the Lady Flames claimed a 35-31 advantage on the boards. Anna Muhonen was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and tallied nine points.
Lee shot 47% (26-of-55) overall but converted just 2-of-21 3-point attempts. Thirty-four of their 73 points came in points in the paint and 25 points came from points off the bench.
West Florida was led by Jaclyn Jarnot with 20 points and nine rebounds. Amara Newsom was the only other Argonaut player in double figures with 11 points. The stout Lee defense held West Florida to 39% shooting from the floor and 28% from beyond the arc. Both teams took excellent care of the basketball. Lee had nine turnovers and the Argos had eight.
