TAMPA, Fla. – The Lee women's basketball team opened the 2026-27 season with a hard-fought 60-50 victory over Florida Southern College in the opening round of the GSC/SSC Challenge on Friday afternoon. The Lady Flames will face the host the University of Tampa club on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Veteran guard Libby Privett led the win with a 19-point performance. She hit 4-of-8 shots from the field and went to the charity stripe to convert 11-of-13 key free throws. She capped off her performance with four rebounds. Freshman Mattie Machen followed with 10 points and canned 4-of-5 freebies.
Senior Kara Williams directed the overall victory. She finished with eight points and led Lee with six rebounds while dishing off three assists. Senior Abby McFarland added eight markers and five boards. She also had three assists. Freshman Emma Smith joined the action with five points and five rebounds. All totaled, nine Lady Flames scored.
Lee shot 44% from the field (18-of-41) but struggled from long range, hitting only 3-of-16 (19%). They made up the margin by knocking down 21-of-27 charity tosses (78%). Florida Southern outrebounded the Lady Flames 30-27.
The Mocs also had nine players get into the scoring act. Catalina Ion led the balanced attack with 10 points. MaKenzie Drout followed with nine points and led Florida Southern in rebounding with six. Ion followed with five boards. The Lee defense held the Mocs to 27% shooting from the field (14-of-52). They also made just 1-of-18 triples (6%) but marched to the free-throw line 28 times and canned 21 (75%).
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"Really good win by our team today. We were able to battle through foul trouble and find a way to win. It's never easy on the road, so this was a nice first step for our group."
