MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Displaying one of their best shooting displays of the year, the Lee women's basketball team had no problems in rebounding from a Thursday loss to Union and handed host Christian Brothers University a 78-51 defeat inside the Canale Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The victory concluded the Lady Flames regular season with a 19-9 mark, and they posted a 17-7 GSC record. Coach Marty Rowe's club will enter conference tournament play and will host the quarterfinal round on Tuesday. They will be the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed Mississippi College in the eight-team event.
Lee quickly jumped out to a 23-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and then held CBU to only nine more points in the second frame in claiming a 39-18 lead by halftime. Things began to level off quickly in the second half as the Lady Flames led by as much as 30 points.
Lee shot 61% overall, making 27-of-44 shots from the field. The Lady Flames hit 9-of-21 triples (43%) and went to the free-throw line 19 times and converted 15. On the other hand, the defense held the Lady Bucs to 73% shooting (17-of-52). CBU made 6-of-20 3-point attempts and canned 11-of-15 freebies.
Lee won the rebounding battle in commanding style, 38-17 and outscored CBU 36-16 in points in the paint. Coach Rowe used all 13 players in the win and 10 saw at least 10 minutes of playing time. All of his starters should be well rested for Tuesday's tourney opener as none of his top five played more than 26 minutes. The reserves totaled 27 points.
In 26 minutes of playing time, Mallory Hampton finished with 21 points, three assists and four rebounds. Anna Muhonen enjoyed a perfect shooting night from the field. She was 4-of-4 and made 6-of-6 free throws in tallying 14 points. Haley Cameron came off the bench to finish with 10 points four assists and totaled a team-leading seven rebounds while Haylee Johnson added nine points, four assists and four rebounds.
Christian Brothers was led by Destiny Kiner who scored 15 points and paced her team with five rebounds. Chloe Crawford was the only other Lady Buc in double-figure scoring. She also tallied 15 points.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"We showed some resiliency today bouncing back from Thursday. We played with great effort and urgency on both ends.
"We are looking forward to postseason, whoever we play is going to be a tough matchup but excited for the opportunity."
