LIVINGSTON, Ala. – Four Lee University women's basketball players scored in double figures in a 69-50 victory over host University of West Alabama inside Pruitt Hall on Thursday evening. The Lady Flames improved to 11-5 in the important Gulf South Conference standings and 13-7 overall. The Tigers dropped to 4-12, 5-15. Lee will continue the road adventures on Saturday at 3 p.m. facing the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Lee jumped on top 17-12 at the end of the first quarter and never trailed, leading 36-24 by halftime and then outscored West Alabama 20-10 in the third frame to salt the victory away. The Lady Flames shot a solid 48% from the field (25-of-52). They attempted only 12 triples and made three, but were on target from the charity stripe, converting 16-of-17 attempts.
Mallory Hampton led the Lee stats across the board with 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds. She made 7-of-12 field goal attempts and was perfect from the free-throw line (4-of-4).
In a night when the reserves came off the bench to play a big role, Anna Muhonen had 12 points and was one of four Lady Flames with five rebounds. She was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Mia Hurst nailed two key 3-pointers and tallied 11 points. She also pulled down five boards. Baylee Delbridge joined in with five boards while Haylee Johnson, in her starting role, hit 5-of-8 field goal attempts for 10 points. She also dished off five assists.
Lee tallied 40 points in the paint and had 29 bench points. Kamille Clark registered a double-double, 13 points and 11 rebounds in the loss for West Alabama. Julia Rodriguez countered with 13 points and seven rebounds. The Tigers outrebounded the Lady Flames 36-34. Lee had 18 assists compared to 11 turnovers while forcing West Alabama into 14 floor mistakes. The Tigers turnovers resulted in 21 Lee points. The Lee defense held the Tigers to 34% shooting (19-of-56). They attempted 14 3-pointers and made three (21%) while struggling at the free-throw line making 9-of-17.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"It was a really solid win. Anytime we can get out of West Alabama on top we feel good about it. We got a great lift out of our bench today and that's going to be what we need down the stretch, different people picking us up at different times. West Alabama is much improved since we played them in December, so being able to play them well on the road from start to finish is a big step for this team."
