BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The Lee women's basketball team outscored Valdosta State 22-9 in the first quarter and then turned back a pair of comebacks by the Blazers in posting a 74-61 victory on Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Gulf South Conference Championship being played at Samford University Pete Hanna Center.

The Lady Flames advanced to play another rival in Union University on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The Lady Bulldogs defeated Delta State to also advance to the finals. 

Haley Schubert enjoyed an outstanding game to pace the Lee win. She finished with 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field. Schubert made a pair of 3-pointers and was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. She got plenty of help. Julia Duncan made 6-of-11 shots from the field and tallied 16 points. Anna Muhonen came off the bench and tallied 14 points while grabbing five rebounds. 

Lee outrebounded the taller Blazers 37-22 with Halle Hughes leading the way with nine boards. Cam Grant followed with seven rebounds while Schubert and Muhonen had five apiece. "Anytime we can rebound the basketball like that and get out on the fast break, we have a good opportunity to win," said Lee head coach Marty Rowe after his team improved to 24-6 on the year.

For the game Lee shot 55% from the field (28-of-51) and 44% from beyond the arc (7-of-16). They also went to the line 12 times and made 11. The Lady Flames defense held Valdosta to 36% shooting for the game and 24% from 3-point range. The Blazers were awarded 19 freebies and made 16. Lee turned the basketball over 24 times and Valdosta 18. 

Kwajelin Farrar paced the Blazers with 20 points. Nicole Heyn added 15 and Tamiya Francis 13. The Lady Flames outscored the Blazers 24-28 in points in the paint and 16-9 in points off the bench. "We got solid production from our reserves and that doesn't show a lot in box scores, but Macy Woodworth, Morgan Carbaugh, Addison Smith and Haylee Johnson gave us some good minutes. Now, we have to turn our attention towards Union," concluded Rowe.