The win completes a two-game sweep of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Crossover, after beating the University of Mobile, Friday night.
The 15th-ranked Lady Flames (9-0, 4-0 SSAC) and Badgers (3-5, 1-3 SSAC) traded leads throughout the first ten minutes of the contest, before Lee pulled ahead and took a 41-30 lead into the break. The second half was all Lee as they outscored Spring Hill, 46-27, to pull away and earn the 30-point win.
“We came out a little flat to start the game,” said Lee head coach Marty Rowe. “That is expected, coming off a physical game last night. They made shots early, but we did some good things. Defensively we picked it up and rebounded better.”
Sophomore Hollie German led the way for Lee, scoring 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. Angela Spann added 13 points and five assists, with Kally Eldridge also passing off five times while scoring 11 points.
Karley Miller and Madison Lee closed out the top scorers for Lee, each scoring 10 points. They also added seven and four rebounds, respectively. “Our depth was a big factor tonight,” commented Rowe.
It was one of the best shooting performances of the season, as the Lady Flames knocked down 31-of-59 shots, good for 53-percent. The Lady Flames were solid from behind the arc, as well, hitting 38-percent of their 3-point shots.
On the other end of the floor, Lee held Spring Hill to 37-percent shooting, while forcing 23 turnovers. The Lady Flames grabbed 38 rebounds, compared to 29 for the Badgers.
Spring Hill was led by a double-double from April Bradford. Bradford tied German for the game-high in points with 16, as well as earning a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Lee ladies will have a week to prepare for their annual trip to Union University, next Saturday at 2 p.m. Union is currently ranked No.2 in the NAIA.
“We’ll take a couple days off, let the girls get ready for finals, and then hit it back hard on Tuesday to prepare for Union,” concluded Rowe.
On Friday evening, the Lady Flames outscored the University of Mobile, 41-25, in the second half, on their way to a 76-58.
An evenly matched first half saw the Lee ladies take a 35-33 win into the break. Coach Rowe’s team came out firing in the second half to pull away and earn the 18-point win.
Once again German led the Lady Flames in scoring, tossing in 19 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Eldridge and Spann were close behind with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Miller turned in another solid performance with 11 points and nine rebounds.
“We got a lot of good play out of several people,” said Rowe. “Angela (Spann) got into some foul trouble, but still scored 15 points in 19 minutes. Hollie (German) was big down the stretch, she hit some big shots.”
Mobile (2-6, 1-2 SSAC) was led by a double-double by Alice Honnery, turning in 13 points and 13 rebounds. Morgan Melancon added 10 points for the home squad.
Overall, Lee shot just under 37-percent, while the Rams shot just over 37-percent. The difference came as Lee won the turnover battle 23-13, outscoring Mobile 25-4 off those giveaways.
Another big difference came at the free throw line, as Mobile was only able to convert 24-of-44 shots at the charity stripe. Lee completed 10-of-17 foul shots.
“We were in terrible foul trouble all night. We had 31 fouls called on us,” added Rowe. “Jenna Adams got in foul trouble as well, but they were poor at the line, and we did a good job boxing out, and on the boards.” The Lady Flames outrebounded Mobile 51-40.
“Mobile really stretched us in the first half before we got going. We need to clean up some lazy fouls and hopefully we’ll do that tomorrow. We have to play well for 40 minutes on the road,” concluded Rowe.
