VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Lee University women's basketball team (21-10) will face 14th-ranked Nova Southwestern in the opening round of the NCAA DII South Regional hosted by Valdosta State University at the Complex. The opening tip for Friday's game between the Lady Flames and Sharks will be at 7:30 EDT.
WATCHING LADY FLAMES
This year, the NCAA Championships Pass will stream 120 DII men's and women's basketball tournament games (all games from first round through quarterfinals) live on NCAA.com. Games will be available on NCAA.com (https://www.ncaa.com/), school sites that stream through Hudl and opt to co-distribute the live streams, and the NCAA Championships Pass app available for Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV.
Prices for viewing (first round through quarterfinals)
• $9.95 per game
• $29.95 per championship
• $49.95 for all games
HOW TO LISTEN TO LADY FLAMES
Fans can tune into the Lee Sports Network for free and listen as Phillip Tang handles the play-by-play duties. To listen to the audio broadcast, you can go directly to Live Buzz 101.3 FM or go to Lee women's basketball website, click on the game, and broadcast button.
TOURNAMENT TICKETS
Tickets for the South Regional are available at the VSU Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 229-333-SEAT (7328). All tickets for the tournament are general admission. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for youth/senior/students.
REGIONAL SCHEDULE
12 Noon – Tampa vs Embry-Riddle
2:30 – Union vs Eckerd
5:00 - Valdosta State vs Miles College
7:30 – Lee vs Nova Southeastern
SOLID PLAY IN GSC TOURNEY
The Lady Flames turned in a sparkling effort in eliminating rival Union University in the semifinal round of the GSC tournament. Mallory Hampton had 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, but it was Hayley Johnson who came on strong with 20 points, while Anna Muhonen joined in with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
The entire team showed tremendous fight and toughness in a loss to top-seeded Valdosta State in the final. The Blazers had just enough to escape the upset, but the Lady Flames should have earned an extra measure of confidence heading into the loaded regional.
Hampton (17), Johnson (15) and Muhonen (10) paced Lee scoring again in the rugged loss to Valdosta. However, it was Baylee Delbridge, seven rebounds and Addison Smith six boards, who turned in supreme efforts for the Lady Flames.
Muhonen was awarded the GSC Women's Basketball Academic Award. The junior carries a 4.00 GPA. Hampton and Johnson earned spots on the GSC All-Tournament Team.
CHECKING OUT THE SHARKS
The Sunshine State Conference team (23-5) won the regular season title and lost to Florida Southern in the SSC championship game. After losing to Auburn Montgomery, Montevallo, and Lynn to open the season, the Sharks ran off 20 straight wins before falling to Tampa in the final game of the regular season on Feb. 28, 76-74.
Nova averages 71 points per game, but prides itself on defense, giving up just over 59 points a game. Nicole Scales, a 5-foot-8 guard, and graduate student is the team leader in 3-point shooting, assists, and is second in point average (13.7) per game.
Morgan Kane is a graduate student from Iowa State. The 6-foot-3 forward averages 15.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Kane has appeared in 16 games this season but has walked away with 14 double-doubles in those contests. Lee coach Marty Rowe singled out the Sharks' India Shepherd. She paces her club in steals (44).
Coach Rowe's thoughts on game:
"We played very well this week and obviously seem to be playing our best basketball of the season at the right time. We have been fortunate to make eight straight NCAA tournaments and you never want to take that for granted. This is one of those years where we never had a clear path until we actually played our way into the tournament down the stretch. I am extremely happy for this group, and they are getting a chance to continue to play."
"We have just continued to work on things like we have done all year. We have gotten to the point where we trust what we are doing more and more. We just take the few extra days to clean things up and get ready for Nova.
"If I am not mistaken, we have never played Nova in the postseason. We have been to a couple Thanksgiving classics at their place and certainly respect how good their program is year in year out."
The two teams have met three times with three holding a 2-1 advantage, but they have never played in postseason.
"Nova won their regular season title in the Sunshine State for a reason, they have multiple high-level transfers and offensive weapons, and are extremely well coached. This time of year, you only play high level teams and whoever plays the hardest and best usually comes out on top.
"Our team seems to be in a great frame of mind right now, things have not come easy for them this season, so I am excited about this opportunity."
