FRANKFORT, Kentucky. – All five starters scored in double figures as the Lee University women's basketball team went on the road for the first time and posted a 78-63 victory over Kentucky State University inside the William Exum HPER Center. The Monday evening win improved the Lady Flames' record to 3-1 while the Thorobreds dropped to 2-5. Lee will open Gulf South Conference play on Thursday (5:30 p.m.) when they host the University of Montevallo in the opening game of a doubleheader.
Anna Muhonen recorded her third straight double-double in pacing the Lady Flames' win. She made 8-of-11 shots from the field and canned 5-of-7 free throws, scoring 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Overall, Lee shot a solid 49% (24-of-49) shots from the field, were blistering hot from the free-throw line 24-of-26 (92%), but made just 6-of-20 triples (30%).
Libby Privett followed Muhonen with 16 points while Baylee Delbridge contributed one of her best shooting nights (6-of-9) from the field (15 points). Bailey Burgess nailed four 3-pointers for her 12-point total and Kara Williams hit a pair of treys in a 10-point effort.
The Lady Flames jumped out to an 18-8 lead at the end of the first frame, and the margin grew to 38-23 by halftime. Both teams shot lights-out in the third period, Lee (9-of-15) 60% and Kentucky State even better (9-of-14) 64%. The Thorobreds managed to outscore the Lady Flames 26-25 in the frame but still trailed 63-49. Play slowed in the final 10 minutes with Lee outscoring the host team 15-14 and returning home with the rugged victory.
Kentucky State outscored Lee 40-36 in points in the paint and 39-4 in points off the bench. The Thorobreds were led by three non-starters. Amina Seck tallied 18 points and led her team with six rebounds. Saniah Sandlin followed with 11 markers and Aaliyah Hayes collected 10 points. The host club shot a respectable 42% from the field (25-of-59). The Thorobreds made a pair of triples in 10 attempts and hit 11-of-15 charity tosses. The battle saw Lee commit 17 turnovers and the host club 18.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"Good road win for this group. We needed to be tested away from home in a tough environment, and we got that tonight. We needed our guards to be heavily pressured and for the most part we handled that well. We still have a lot of work to do as a team but definitely we took a good step forward tonight."
