Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Ala – A low scoring second quarter (11 points) and a slow start to the third period proved costly to the Lee women's basketball team as they dropped its second straight Gulf South Conference contest on Saturday afternoon.
The 68-51 win by host University of Alabama in Huntsville saw the Lady Flames slip to 2-2 in conference play and 5-3 overall. The surging Chargers claimed their seventh straight win and improved to 4-0, 8-3.
Lee will gladly return to Walker Arena on Thursday and Saturday to wrap up pre-Christmas play. They will face two more tough challenges in West Florida on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Valdosta State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Lady Flames trailed 23-17 at the end of the first quarter but managed only 11 points in falling behind 38-28 by halftime. The margin grew to 19 points when Lee got off to an even slower start in the third period. However, Coach Marty Rowe's team began a comeback and cut the margin to 51-42 at the end of the third stanza.
Things got even more interesting at the start of the fourth frame. The Lady Flames cut the lead to seven points, but each time they seemed ready to cut even deeper into the lead, the Chargers would step up and nail a key 3-point shot. Overall, six difference Huntsville players made treys.
In the final 10 minutes, Lee turned the basketball over and was forced to foul. The Lady Flames managed only nine points in the period and the Chargers went to the free-throw line and tallied 17 markers in the frame.
For the game, Lee made 17-of-53 field goal attempts (32%). The Lady Flames continued to struggle from beyond the arc, making 4-of-21 (19%). In a contest that saw a total of 44 fouls called, Lee was awarded 18 freebies and made 13.
Anna Muhonen was the Lady Flames' leading scorer and rebounder with 11 points and seven boards. Libby Privett connected on all four of her free throws and tallied 10 points. Hannah Jones, making her second appearance since a preseason ankle injury, tallied eight points while Abby McFarland also made 4-of-4 from the charity stripe and added seven points.
The Chargers had four players in double-figure scoring. Lili Wilken was the leader with 16 points and eight rebounds. Millie Brown followed with 12 points. Bella White went to the line 10 times, converted nine and finished with 11 points while Ivey Maddox totaled 10 markers. Brown hurt the Lady Flames with three timely 3-pointers.
It was not a great shooting day for the home team. The Chargers made 18-of-47 shots overall (38%). They fired 30 triples and converted 11 (37%) and marched to the free-throw times 26 times, making 21.
Floor mistakes were also costly for the Lady Flames. They turned the basketball over 19 times while the Chargers were guilty of 13 turnovers. Lee did win the rebounding battle 39-32 and scored 24 points in the paint while Huntsville had 10.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"UAH is a really good team and has a great sense of who they are, and that's what our team is searching for right now. It is up to me to help them figure things out. We are looking forward to getting back to work on Monday and getting ready for next week."
