CLEVELAND, Tenn. - With one exhibition game recorded, the Lee University women's basketball team will officially open its 2025-26 basketball season on Friday, hosting Florida Southern College and the University of Tampa in the annual Gulf South Conference /Sunshine State Conference Crossover Challenge. The University of Alabama in Huntsville will round out the four-team event.
Friday morning's play opens with UAH of the GSC facing 23rd-ranked Tampa (SSC) at 11 a.m. The Lady Flames will face Florida Southern at 1 p.m. It will mark the eighth time Lee and the Moccasins have tangled in the Challenge with the Lady Flames holding a 5-3 advantage.
"It is always a challenging start to our season with our partnership with Florida Southern, now that we've added Tampa it only increases," pointed out Lee head coach Marty Rowe as he prepared his team for the openers. "Add Alabama-Huntsville to the mix and it makes for a great two days of basketball."
Rowe admitted, "Our team probably has more question marks than anyone in the field, but we are looking forward to the challenge, and this weekend will give us a really good gauge on where we are as a group."
Coach Megan Dzikas begins her fourth season of leading Florida Southern. The Moccasins were 11-16 last season and are picked to finish fifth in the final Sunshine State standings. But Dzikas' team is blessed with one of the top seven guards in the DII ranks. Senior Sydney Gomes has been recognized nationally by NCAA Division II analyst Wayne Cavadi as one of the "7 Returning DII Women's Basketball Guards to Watch for 2025-26," as featured on the official NCAA website.
Last year, Gomes averaged 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game, while leading Florida Southern with 44 steals. She also led all of Division II in triple-doubles, recording two in the span of a week.
The Lady Flames lost two of the top guards in the GSC in All-American Mallory Hampton and All-GSC Haylee Johnson. Anna Muhonen is a veteran starter down low and Kara Williams joins Baylee Delbridge with plenty of game experience.
Coach Rowe has added transfers in Libby Privett (Wofford College) and Hannah Jones, a former Bradley Central standout, but she has been battling an injury.
Tampa is a top name in DII sports. The Lady Flames have met the Spartans 12 times over the years and have managed a .500 mark (6-6). Wins over Coach Tom Jessee's teams have been hard to come by in DII National Tournament play, but the Lady Flames did defeat the Spartans last March before falling to host Union in the NCAA Nationals.
Tampa is off to an unusual 0-2 start. Coach Jessee took his team to Denton, Texas for an invitational tourney and lost close games to No. 18 Southwestern Minnesota State and Harding University (Arkansas). The Spartans are led by 6-foot-3 Ryan Franklin and 5-foot-4 guard Giorgia Palmieri.
