Lee Lady Flames upset in NAIA tournament

Friday, January 1, 1904

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Despite 34 points by Hollie German, the Lee University women's basketball team was upset Thursday night by Biola, 69-66, in the opening round of the NAIA Division I tournament. The California team was a No. 7 seed and is 22-10, while the Lady Flames were a two seed but ended their season at 30-4 with three losses in their last five games. German made 11 of her 13 shots from the field, including three of four 3-point tries, and nine of nine free throws, but Mary Jackson with 12 points was the only other Lee player scoring more than five. Karley Miller had eight rebounds in defeat. Chelsea Hill, Adijat Adams and Charrise Reece had 15 points apiece and Hill added seven assists for Biola, which led 63-52 with 2:58 to go. Lee's Marty Rowe is one of five regional finalists for NAIA women's coach of the year. He's had 12 seasons in a row with at least 20 wins and NAIA national appearances.

• KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Ryan Westbrooks scored 20 points but no Lee University teammate scored in double figures as the Flames lost to 14th-seeded Georgetown (Ky.) in the NAIA Division I men's national basketball tournament late Thursday night. Johonne Hamilton scored 14 points and Jordan Demercy had 15 rebounds with 12 points in Georgetown's 70-62 victory. Duran Bue and Tyrone Caldwell scored nine and eight points and Johnny Godette had a team-high eight rebounds for Lee (20-9). The Flames jumped to a 21-15 lead and were up 34-28 with 1:38 left in the first half. They still led at halftime, 35-33, but Georgetown (25-8) tied the score early in the second half and burst to a 48-40 advantage that became 52-43 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Lee did get within four points on a Westbrooks 3-pointer with 1:37 to go, but Georgetown scored the next six points for a 70-60 lead. Before the tournament, Lee junior Brice Sharp was presented the NAIA's 2012 Champions of Character Award and a $2,000 Pattison Scholarship. One of four recipients, he was honored largely for his considerable community involvement in the Cleveland and Dalton areas.

• Tennesse Wesleyan juniors E'Jay Ward and Desmond Crisp received NAIA Division II men's basketball All-America honorable mention for the 2011-12 season. Ward, a point guard from Brainerd High School, led NAIA D-II with 118 steals and 3.74 per game and was second in assists. Crisp, from Bolivar, Tenn., was ninth nationally with 644 points, averaging 18.94 per game. The Bulldogs won the Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season and tournament and played in the NAIA Division II nationals.

• Senior Trent Williams from the Sewanee men's basketball team was announced Wednesday as the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Character and Community athlete of the week. Williams, a senior economics major planing to go to law school, is president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and a member of the Student Alumni Leadership Council. He played in 93 games in his four-year career and started 40, and he totaled 523 points with 85 3-point baskets.

Softball

• The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team begins play today in South Florida's "The Game" tournament in Clearwater with matchups against Canisius and Hartford at 4:30 and 6:45. The Lady Mocs face Northwestern and Massachusetts on Saturday and Illinois on Sunday. They were on their way to a big loss Tuesday at Florida, but rain stopped it in the fourth inning and made it a no-game with the fourth-ranked Gators up 11-0.

• Former Chattanooga Christian and Chattanooga State standout Laura Curtis hit a home run and senior Jessica Phillips from GPS doubled in a run and scored on an error Wednesday night as the Memphis Tigers softball team defeated visiting UT-Martin 3-1. Kamri Chester, also from GPS, stole a base and scored as a pinch runner.

• Lee University edged Shorter 2-1 and lost 4-3 in 12 innings in their Southern States Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Wednesday in Rome, Ga. First-game Lee pitcher Brittany Balough went to 12-0 for the season with a two-hitter but took the loss in relief in game two, when all the Shorter runs were unearned. The Lady Flames (19-5, 1-1) scored the deciding run in game one in the top of the seventh inning. Jennifer Ringle was 3-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run and Tabitha Farrow was 2-for-3 with a run also for Lee, and Kelsey Barnes had the other RBI hit. Charlsie Broome from LaFayette had the RBI for Shorter (19-5, 1-1). Maddie Bray from Calhoun pitched seven innings and was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Broome had two hits in game two, when Barnes homered and Ana Coscorrosa and pinch-hitter Katie Deems had RBIs for Lee.

Baseball

• HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. -- Sewanee scored 46 runs Thursday in a baseball doubleheader sweep of Rust College, the Tigers winning 14-1 and 32-4. Connor Liston and Jack Rogers had three hits to back freshman Marshall Ussery's pitching in the first game, and Allen Thigpen doubled, singled and drove in four runs. Blake Williams was 4-for-5 in game two, when Alan Komorowski, Ryne Sullivan and Rogers each had three hits and Rogers and Michael Doar had three RBIs apiece.

Lacrosse

• SEWANEE, Tenn. -- Meg Welton scored five goals and teammates Olivia Vietor, Molly Arnold, Page Carpenter, Anna Morrow and Mallory Grimm also had multiple scores as Sewanee beat visiting Greensboro 20-17 in women's lacrosse Thursday. Amy Nusbaum had six saves for the Tigers (5-1) in the match delayed by lightning for nearly an hour.

Tennis

• Covenant's Jonathan Herberich and Andy Jones were the Great South Athletic Conference men's tennis doubles players of the week announced Wednesday. They won in singles in addition to their 8-1 victory together against Maryville.