NC Tennessee News

In a contest that saw the Lee women's basketball team trail deep into the third quarter, the Lady Flames came battling back and pushed their winning streak to 10 straight with a hard-fought 78-67 victory over Christian Brothers University on Thursday evening inside Canale Arena.

Lee improved to 13-2 overall and remained undefeated in Gulf South Conference play (11-0). The Buccaneers dropped to 6-8, 4-7. The Lady Flames will move on to Jackson and face another tough challenge against rival Union University on Saturday (3 p.m.)."We will get some rest and then get started on (game-planning for) Union," said Coach Marty Rowe. "It is a game that we are really looking forward to playing."

Christian Brothers jumped out to a 25-16 lead at the end of the first period and continued to enjoy a 41-37 lead by halftime. The Lady Flames gradually fought back in the second period, outscoring the host club 21-16, but made the big adjustments at halftime. 

In the third frame, Lee's defense stiffened and held the Memphis club to only seven points while putting 17 markers on the board. The Lady Flames tied the game at 48 with 3:08 remaining in the third period on a fast-break layup by Macy Woodworth. The first lead of the evening came on Haylee Johnson's only two points of the game. It was a layup at the 2:38 mark. The Lady Flames never trailed again. 

"I am really proud of how this team was able to fight back and find a way to win against a really good team," explained Rowe. "We got caught early of being back on our heels, but give our players credit they just kept battling. "We got excellent contributions off the bench tonight, especially when Mallory (Hampton) and Macy picked their third fouls in the first half. Games like this are so good for us!" the coach added.

Lee won despite shooting only 33% (23-of-69) overall and 20% (5-of-25) from beyond the arc. However, they did march to the free-throw line 32 times and connected on 25 (78%). On the other hand, the Buccaneers hit 35% of their shots from the field (22-of-63) and 33% (9-of-27) triples. They were awarded 22 free throws and hit 14 (64%). 

Five Lady Flames scored double-figure points. Haley Schubert knocked down 9-of-11 free tosses and tallied 17 points to go along with seven rebounds. Macy Woodworth had 14 points and seven rebounds. She made 4-of-7 shots from the field. Addison Smith went to the glass to lead her team with eight rebounds and tossed in 11 points. 

Morgan Carbaugh had 10 points and tied Smith for rebounding honors with eight while Hampton helped Lee salt the victory away by scoring eight of her 10 points in the final four minutes. Mia Hurst added eight points and five rebounds as the Lady Flames won the battle of the boards 50-44. 

Selena Pruitt poured in 25 points and kept the Buccaneers alive with four key triples. She also had five rebounds and was the only CBU player in double-figure scoring. Emily Jones and Kallie Searcy had eight points. Searcy had seven boards and Jones six. Jeremia Montgomery paced her club in rebounding with nine and added seven points.

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