CLEVELAND, Tenn.-Lee University claimed its eighth straight victory and improved to 8-2 overall and 7-0 in Gulf South Conference play with a 70-36 win over Shorter University inside Walker Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Lady Flames will go into the holiday break standing all alone in first place in the conference standings after Valdosta State University handed Union University its first defeat of the year on Sunday.
Lee quickly moved out to a 24-4 lead after one period of play but the visiting Lady Hawks played the Lady Flames even in the second stanza (15-15) and it was 39-19 tally at the halftime break. Lee extended the margin to 53-30 after three frames and then outscored Shorter 17-6 in the final period.
Four Lady Flames scored in double figures and Coach Marty Rowe used all 14 players in the contest. Mallory Hampton converted 8-of-8 free throws and finished with 14 points. She also had four rebounds and four assists. Haylee Johnson followed with 12 points and four assists. Mia Hurst and Addison Smith each tallied 10 points while Hurst grabbed six rebounds and Smith four. Kara Williams was Lee's leading rebounder with six.
It was not a great shooting day for the Lady Flames. They made 23-of-62 shots from the field (37%). They also hit 11-of-32 triples (34%) and struggled at the free-throw line for one of the few times this year, converting 13-of-22 (59%). Lee won the rebounding battle 23-21 and forced Shorter into 23 floor mistakes while committing 13.
The Lady Hawks got nine points from Tiara Lewis before she fouled out early in the second half. Lewis also had four rebounds. Ansley Barge followed with eight points and a team-leading six rebounds. Shorter struggled from the field, shooting just 24% (10-of-42) and made only 1-of-13 three pointers. The Lady Hawks did draw 23 fouls and went to the line 25 times but converted only 15.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"We really got off to a good start in the first quarter but I thought our girls got somewhat sloppy in the second and third periods, but that can be expected in this type of game. We did get an opportunity to get a lot of players into the game and that is something we like going into the holiday break.
"It is good to be 7-0 in the conference standings and that is where we had hoped to be at this point, but this season is a long way from over. We divide the year into three parts and we just completed one-third of it this afternoon. Our girls went out and took care of business and we can celebrate that.
"We will take some time off. Our training staff will tell our girls what to do to keep in shape during the break and we trust most of them will follow those directions. We were able to finish this part of the season with our team healthy for the most part."
