CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Lee women's head basketball coach Marty Rowe used 10 players in a down-to-the-wire Gulf South Conference win over Valdosta State University inside Walker Arena on Saturday afternoon. It was the second straight victory by the Lady Flames who improved to 4-2 in conference play and 7-3 overall. The Lady Blazers dropped to 1-4, 3-7. Lee will play one final game before the end of the year, hosting Tennessee Wesleyan University on New Year's Eve at 1 p.m.
Anna Muhonen turned in a career-high scoring performance, 29 points. She also led Lee in rebounding with eight in the 62-58 win. No other Lady Flame scored in double figures, but eight put points on the board. Abby McFarland finished with eight markers and Libby Privett tallied six.
Kara Williams had only three points but grabbed five rebounds and dished off seven key assists. Baylee Delbridge fought for four points and three boards plus played tough defense while Bailey Burgess sank a pair of meaningful treys and totaled six points.
The Lady Flames led 15-11 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Blazers came back to outscore Lee 20-15 in the second frame and led 31-30 at halftime. The Lady Flames regrouped and outscored the visitors 19-14 in the third period and grabbed a 49-45 lead. The exciting final 10 minutes saw the two teams battle to a 13-13 draw.
The Lady Blazers consistently attacked the Lee basket, and Aryana Hicks led the scoring with 16 points. Teammate Alina Martin added 12 and Erin Whalen finished with a double-double, 12 rebounds and 10 points.
Lee shot a consistent 43% from the field (22-of-52) but made just 5-of-19 triples (26%). They converted 13-of-19 free throws. Valdosta State was held to 30% (21-of-53) shooting overall and made 4-of-11 3-pointers (36%). The Lady Blazers hit 12-of-15 charity tosses.
The Lady Flames turned the basketball over 16 times overall but committed just five floor mistakes in the second half. The Lady Blazers had 14 turnovers. They converted 20 points off Lee turnovers while the Lady Flames had 11 points off the VSU floor mistakes. Lee outscored the Lady Blazers 22-12 in points off the bench.
VSU never held more than a four-point lead, and that came in the second half. Lee led by as much as 11 points with just over eight minutes remaining in the contest. The Lady Blazers cut right back into the Lee lead with nine-straight points and Lee tried to take control of the game by scoring 10 points in a row in the third frame.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"We found another way to win today and that's a great quality to have as a team. I think a big key is the fact we're really starting to trust each other and mature as a group. Great way to head into the Christmas break and we'll look forward to getting back to work on the 29th."
