CLEVELAND, Tenn.-Year in and year out it does not get much better than when veteran coaches Marty Rowe and Mark Campbell send their Lee and Union women into battles against each other. Campbell has directed Lady Bulldog teams to over 700 wins and Rowe is pushing toward 650, but each are quick to tell you it takes good players to put winning numbers on the board.
Rowe's Lady Flames defeated Campbell's Union squad back on January 7th, 72-68 in overtime. The Lady Bulldogs have not lost since that afternoon, running off ten straight victories and will bring a 19-3 record into Thursday evening's (6 p.m.) GSC showdown with the first place Lee squad. The Lady Flames are 20-2 in the conference standings and both teams will be hosting an opening-round game when the GSC playoffs begin next week.
"Honestly, we love the challenge of playing a really good Union team," said Coach Rowe. "This is a great rivalry and Thursday will be two really good teams battling it out once again."
Since falling to the Lady Flames no club has come within 12 points of the surging Lady Bulldogs who are coming off a 60-34 win over West Alabama. "Union, as you would expect, is playing its best basketball of the year down the stretch," pointed out Rowe. "They seem to be more comfortable with the pressing-style of play they instituted this season and really try to force you to make mistakes."
The Lady Flames took care of the Union pressure in the first meeting, owning a 51-41 lead at the half and building a 16-point lead in the third period. In the wild finish, the Lady Bulldogs outscored Lee 19-9 in the fourth period to force overtime and put eight points on the board in OT before the Flames got burning and won 72-68.
"We will need to take care of the basketball and attack them once we break pressure," stressed Rowe. "It is easier said than done but that needs to be our mindset. As always you have to defend the 3-point line when you play Union, they have multiple shooters and shoot it a high level."
With the pressure Coach Campbell uses ten players, all about equal playing time with the exception of Shanique Lucas. The talented senior guard leads her team in scoring and rebounding. She is one of the best in NCAA D2 and will go up against Lee's outstanding backcourt in Haley Schubert and Mallory Hampton.
Schubert returns after missing the past two games under concussion protocol. She averages 18.7 ppg and almost four rebounds. Hampton has moved her average up to over 13 ppg. She claims over four rebounds per outing and has dished off a team-leading 115 assists. The Lady Flames will need a good evening from a group that Coach Rowe says enjoys playing for each other, including Macy Woodworth, Hannah Garrett, Addison Smith, Morgan Carbaugh, Haylee Johnson and Mia Hurst.
Stat numbers look a great deal a like between two ranked teams that will be keeping an eye on the first region ranking which come out this week. Both teams shoot over 45% overall and 37% from long range. Union has made over 50 more triples (256-203) than Lee. The Lady Flames make over 72% of their free throws and the Lady Bulldogs 71%. However, Union has 303 points from freebies and Lee 251. Each team averages just over 33 rebounds per game. Overall, Union puts over 77 points per game on the board and Lee 71.
Everything points to another outstanding game between two of the best coaches in NCAA D2 sending gifted athletes to match up against each other on the hardwood.
Honoring Seniors
The Lady Flames will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when they host Christian Brothers University. It will be Senior Day and Macy Woodworth, Morgan Carbaugh, Haley Schubert, and Hannah Garrett will join Graduate Assistant Coach NaKeia Burks in being honored.
