SSAC News
Mon, Feb 12, 2007 - [Women's Basketball]
News Photo

WALESKA, Ga. - The Lee University Lady Flames put on a "Believe It or Not Show" in the opening half against a stunned Reinhardt College team on Saturday afternoon in the mountains of north Georgia.

Coach Marty Rowe's fourth-ranked basketball team (22-3, 15-1) shot a dazzling 72 percent (13-of-18) from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. The Lady Flames put a remarkable 59 points on the board and waltzed to a super impressive 91-68 win over a host Reinhardt team that had just claimed four straight victories and was fighting for a spot in the upcoming SSAC tournament.

Junior Fallon Lee put on a first-half shooting display that had to rank with the best in the NAIA this season. The guard missed her first 3-point attempt of the half. She made her next six trey attempts and finished the first 20 minutes with an eye-catching 20-point effort. As expected, she cooled somewhat in the second half and had a game-high 24 points.

"I've had a lot of good shooting teams, but I've never seen anything like the way we shot the basketball in the first half," said coach Rowe. "Listen, Reinhardt wasn't playing that badly. They were right in the game until we made that tremendous run in the last 10 minutes of the first half."

The Lady Eagles almost matched Lee’s 3-point marksmanship in the first half. The host team put up 10 triples and converted seven (70 percent). It was truly a shootout that would have left even old-time western cowgirl Annie Oakley shaking her head.

For the game, the Lady Flames shot 61 percent from the field (31-of-51). They were almost as good from behind the 3-point arc, canning 15-of-26 (58 percent). If there was a weakness it came in two areas, 14-of-23 free throws made and 25 turnovers.

Jessica Still and Aaron Richmond also had an outstanding shooting night. Both had 15 points, while Richmond added three assists and two steals and Still dished off four assists and came up with two steals.

The superior performance by the Lady Flames was marred by a knee injury to Rader in the second half. The sophomore guard was driving for the basket when she twisted her knee. Rader left the gym on crutches and will undergo an MRI on Monday.

"It is hard to tell about knee injuries," said Rowe. "I know we've had our share of them. We'll see what the MRI shows and we will take it from there."

For the losing Reinhardt team, Josephine Reed tallied 22 points and Katie Hunter, who was almost as hot as Lee in the first half, finished with 19 points.