The Lady Flames shot 47 percent in the first 20 minutes and held the Blue Raiders to just 26 percent shooting from the floor in jumping out to a commanding 35-17 lead at the break. Lee also outrebounded the taller Lindsey Wilson team 23-14 at the break and 36-25 for the game.
“I’m really pleased with the way our girls played tonight,” said coach Marty Rowe, who returned to his home state of Kentucky to score the victory. “Our girls played so hard and we held their leading scorer (Monny Ranika) to only two points. She’s averaging over 20 points per game.”
It was a coming out party for Lee’s 6-foot freshman post player Jenna Adams. The former McMinn Central all-stater had 12 rebounds in the first half and finished with 15 for the game. She completed her double-double effort with 11 points and also had four blocked shots.
“We haven’t seen anything like that in a couple of years,” said Rowe with a smile splashed across his face. “Jenna played strong. In fact all our post players performed well against a bigger Lindsey Wilson team. If we continue to play as a team and work hard, we can be a good basketball squad.”
The Lady Flames had three players finish in double-figure scoring. Senior Angela Spann was 6-of-10 from the field and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in leading the attack with 16 points. She was also the team leader with six assists. Sophomore Hollie German tallied 13 markers, despite facing constant pressure by the Blue Raider defense.
For the night Lee shot 43 percent from the field and connected on 10-of-29 treys (35 percent). The Lady Flames were only awarded six free throws and canned four. If there was a negative point, it had to be in the turnover department (24). “We’ve got to clean some of those things up,” stressed coach Rowe. “We will take Wednesday off and go right back to work and get ready for two conference games this weekend.”
It was the first loss of the year for Lindsey Wilson which improved to 42 percent shooting in the second half and finished the game at 33 percent from the field. The losers attempted 10 3-pointers and made two. They went to the line 17 times and converted 11.
Jasmine Brimm was the only Blue Raider in double-figure scoring, with 16. Lee’s defense held Lindsey Wilson to just two points off fast breaks and scored 17 markers off Blue Raider turnovers. The impressive stats continued with Lee holding a 26-22 edge in points scored in the paint and a 13-5 edge in second chance attempts.
Rowe also singled out the play of Rachel Lockhart who scored only three points but stepped up to draw at least three charging calls. He also liked the effort of Karley Miller and Myriah Iles; both came on to assist Adams in the post position. “We played better with our smaller post lineup but our taller players also did well,” he allowed. “It was just a good effort against a good Lindsey Wilson team.”
The Lady Flames will host Auburn Montgomery in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, Lee will be in Walker Arena again and will be testing Faulkner University. The opener is slated for 4 p.m.
