MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After holding only an 11-8 margin at the end of the first quarter, the Lee University basketball team outscored host Christian Brothers University 55-19 over the final three frames in coasting to a 66-27 GSC victory on Wednesday evening.
The win improved the Lady Flames to 14-7 in conference play and 18-8 overall. Wednesday's victory sets up a key battle at rival Union University on Friday at 6:30 EST.
The Lady Flames held the Bucs to only 17% shooting from the field (9-of-52). The hosts hit 5-of-24 triples (21%) and converted 4-of-11 charity tosses (36%). Mia Bourget had eight points to lead the Buc's scoring while Alice Conrad was her team's leading rebounder with seven.
Lee holding Christian Brothers to only 27 points was the lowest the Lady Flames have held an opponent since defeating Auburn Montgomery 63-25 on Nov. 30, 2017.
Abby McFarland came off the bench to pace the balanced Lee scoring with 15 points. She also grabbed five rebounds. In the third period when the Lady Flames broke the contest wide open, McFarland joined Mia Alexander with a pair of triples, and Bailey Burgess made one to give the visitors a commanding 47-20 lead.
Alexander totaled 11 points, including 3-of-5 triples. Baylee Delbridge followed with 10 points and picked up six rebounds. Burgess had a pair of 3-pointers while Anna Muhonen pulled down a team-leading nine boards and scored seven points. Kara Williams was the assist leader with four.
After shooting only 25% in the first quarter, the Lady Flames warmed up quickly in the second 10 minutes and nailed 6-of-8 shots overall. They finished the contest making 23-of-52 attempts from the field (44%), 9-of-21 triples (43%) and hit 11-of-17 free throws (65%).
Lee outrebounded CBU 46-32 and had 19 assists to 12 turnovers. On the other hand, the Bucs turned the basketball over 16 times to just six assists. The Lady Flames outscored the home club 36-9 in points off the bench.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"We got off to a really sluggish start to the game but fought through it and played much better down the stretch. We're excited about the opportunity in front of us at Union on Friday and look forward to the challenge."
