Cheeks’ double-double helps Lee beat Alabama-Huntsville
From Lee reports HUNTSVILLE, Ala.
– Led by 30 points from Erin Walsh the Lee women’s basketball team made it four wins in a row on Saturday as they defeated Alabama Huntsville.
Walsh was on fire from the field as she finished 10 of 17 and canned four triples. Abby Bertram added 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists while former Sonoraville High standout Carrie Cheeks registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lady Flames jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead on 3-pointers by Anna Woodford, Bertram and Walsh. Lee hit 9 of 31 from beyond the arc in the contest and shot 46 percent from the floor.
Alabama Huntsville hung around for much of the first three quarters as Lee held a slim 34-32 lead at halftime. Leading by just four at 48-44 a Walsh triple with 2:20 left in the third period helped jump start a 14-6 run for the Lady Flames to put the game out of reach.
“We battled and really had to grind this one out today,“said head coach Marty Rowe. “Give credit to UAH, I thought they played really hard and made us work on both ends.“
The Chargers were paced by 18 points from Baylee Johnson and Loren Foster. Chandler Elder followed with 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. UAH hit eight 3-pointers and finished 21 of 51 from the field for 41 percent.
The Lady Flames held a 34-25 edge on the glass. Both teams scored 24 points in the paint but Lee held a 10-2 advantage on second-chance points.
Late free throws helped keep the hungry Chargers at bay. Lee finished 18 of 23 from the charity stripe. “I thought we were tough down the stretch and made some key free throws,“noted Rowe.
The Lady Flames completed the season sweep of UAH and improve to 16-6 overall and 11-5 in the Gulf South Conference. The loss drops the Chargers to 4-17 and 3-13 in league play.
“We’re excited about the direction this team is going and looking forward to a couple days off before we get back to work on Tuesday,“concluded Rowe.
Lee will continue its three-game road trip as they visit the Magnolia State next week. Lady Flames will travel to Delta State on Thursday and Mississippi College next Saturday.
In other recent college basketball action:
Cheeks scores 22 in Lee win
Thanks to balanced scoring and a dominating second half performance the Lee women’s basketball team scored an important conference victory over North Alabama, 91-72 on Thursday evening in Walker Arena.
The Lady Flames (15-6, 10-5) entered the contest in a tie for second in the GSC with the Lions (15-6, 9-6). North Alabama beat Lee, 74-69 back on Jan. 19 in Florence but tonight belonged completely to the Lady Flames as they controlled the game from the start to earn their third consecutive victory.
The Lions cut the deficit down to eight with 8:39 remaining in the game before Erin Walsh canned a 3-point shot and Lindsey Roddy swiped a steal and went the distance the other way for an old-fashion 3-point play to put the Lady Flames up 14. Lee outscored the Lions, 52-38 in the second half.
Junior Carrie Cheeks had her way in the post. The Ranger, Ga. native scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds, seven offensive, in just 15 minutes of action. As a team the Lady Flames outscored the Lions, 52-28 in the paint.
Roddy came off the bench to score 19 points and swiped four steals on the defensive end for the home team. Abby Bertram, fresh off earning her third GSC Freshman of the Week honor, scored 13 points and dished off five assists.
“This was a really good win tonight for us. We got a lot of good contributions from our bench. Nicky (Nicole Widenski) came off the bench and gave us some good minutes in the first half to help us get through some foul trouble,” said Lee assistant coach Kelly Kiser. “In the second half Erin and Carrie were stepped up and were big for us to help finish off this win.”
Walsh was efficient in her shot selection as she hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 11 points and four assists. Widenski scored seven markers and was a perfect 3 of 3 from the field.
As team the Lady Flames shot a sizzling 52.2 percent ( 35 of 67) from the field. Lee has now shot over 50 percent from the floor in three straight contests, all victories.
North Alabama was led by one of their talented triplets as Emma Wallen had 29 points and canned six triples. Her sister Ivy Wallen had 17 points and Michaela DeKilder tallied eight points and hauled in seven rebounds.
The Lee defensive held the Lions to just 35.3 percent (24 of 68) shooting from the field. Struggling to find space in the lane, North Alabama attempted 30 3-point shots and hit nine.
The Lady Flames held a decisive 48-28 advantage on the glass. Haley Cornellison had 10 defensive rebounds and Shelby Brown added nine points and five rebounds of her of her own.