CLEVELAND, Tenn. - With Haylee Johnson leading the way, the Lee University women exploded for 32 points in the third period in posting an impressive 76-53 victory over the University of Montevallo inside Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Flames bounced back from a Thursday loss to Auburn University Montgomery and improved to 9-4 in GSC play and 15-4 overall. The Falcons dropped to 6-7, 8-10.
Montevallo jumped out to a fast start and led 24-17 at the end of the first quarter. Play slowed on both sides of the ball in the second frame as each team only scored a total of seven points. The Falcons continued to hold a 31-24 lead at the half.
The beginning of the third period was more of the same but 3-point shots by Bailey Burgess and Abby McFarland helped open the scoring gate for the Lady Flames and they never looked back. By the end of three periods, Lee was on top 52-40, outscoring the Falcons 32-13 in the period. In the final frame, the defense held Montevallo to nine points and put 20 more points on the board.
Johnson finished her career-high performance with 30 points. She made 9-of-22 shots from the field, 12-of-13 free throws, pulled down six rebounds, nine assists and had five steals.
Burgess broke out of a scoring slump and made 4-of-7 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc and finished with 12 points. McFarland nailed two key 3s and a field goal in finishing with eight points. Anna Muhonen tallied nine points and pulled down five rebounds.
Lee shot 45% overall (26-of-58) and 36% from long range (8-of-21). They went to the line 18 times and converted 16. The Falcons outrebounded the Lady Flames 33-31 but Lee outscored Montevallo 28-9 in points off turnovers, 36-12 in points in the paint and 22-10 in points off the bench.
The Falcons placed three players in double figures. Aubrey Sorrells finished with 14 points. Savannah Cook had three triples and 11 points while Elisa Saffold came off the bench and tallied 10 points. The Lee defense forced
Montevallo into 23 turnovers and committed only nine. The visitors shot 34% from the field (17-of-50), made 28% from 3-point range (8-of-29) and hit 11-of-13 free throws.
The Lady Flames face a bigger challenge on Thursday when they travel to Huntsville and face the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the opening game of a doubleheader slated for a 6:30 start.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"I felt like we fought for each other today. We got completely lost in just playing basketball on both sides of the ball. That's the key for our team, no matter who's on the floor we compete at the highest level possible. I thought the second quarter was key for us. We couldn't make a shot, but we kept getting stops and kept the game close. We battled!
Obviously, when the ball started going in and we made some 3s that's where the runs happened, but it all started for us on the defensive end. Taking charges, moving our legs, and defending with some urgency. Today, was a great response from our players and we look forward to getting back to work on Monday."
