CLEVELAND, Miss. – In what has to go down as one of the most impressive comebacks ever by a Lee University women's basketball team, the Lady Flames led 2-1 early in the first period and never led again until the final 24 seconds in the thrilling 59-57 comeback victory over Delta State University inside the Walter Fillers Coliseum on Thursday evening.
It was a total team effort but Haylee Johnson took control in the final period and engineered the amazing win. She scored 13 of Lee's 15 points in the fourth period, including the winner with just four seconds remaining. Johnson finished with 26 points, playing 39 minutes and making 10-of-17 shots overall. She converted one 3-pointer and made 5-of-7 free throws. Just for good measure, the lefty went to the glass and led her team with eight rebounds. Mallory Hampton, still battling back from a knee injury, tallied 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. She also made one 3-pointer.
The road win improved Lee's conference record to 15-4 and 21-4 overall. Delta State slipped to 8-12 and 12-15. The Lady Flames will continue their Mississippi road adventures on Saturday when they move over to Clinton and will face Mississippi College in another GSC contest slated for a 3 p.m. tip.
The Lady Flames outrebounded the Lady Statesmen 34-19 with Anna Muhonen pulling down a key board in the final seconds in finishing with seven caroms. Baylee Delbridge added five while Addison Smith pulled down four. Nine Lee players saw double-figure minutes in the hard-fought win.
Delta State led 17-14 at the end of one period and owned their biggest margin of the game (34-22) with 2:15 remaining in the second period and led 35-26 at halftime. The Lady Flames came out with plenty of fight in the third frame and quickly cut the Lady Statesmen lead to 35-32 after a two-point bucket by Kara Williams, a 3-pointer by Hampton and a free-throw by Johnson.
The margin was sliced to a single point with 3:50 remaining in the frame. Bailey Burgess nailed a triple and Johnson hit 1-of-2 freebies to make it a 37-36 contest. The Lady Statesmen were not about to go away and increased their lead to 45-40 at the end of three periods before Lee made the game-winning rally.
Lee made 21-of-51 shots overall (49%) and 4-of-11 triples (36%). They were awarded only seven freebies and made five. On the other end, Delta State made 18-of-43 shots overall (42%) and 6-of-21 3-pointers (29%). They marched to the charity stripe 23 times and converted 15. The Lady Flames turned the basketball over 13 times and the Lady Statesmen 10. Lee came up with five timely steals and DSU four.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"A very resilient effort by our players tonight. A lot of credit to Delta State for outplaying us for most of the game, especially in the first half but we hung in there and found a way to win. We were extremely tough on both sides of the ball, especially in that last two minutes of the game. We found a way and this time of year that is what it takes some nights."
