CLEVELAND, Tenn. | Lee University used a strong first half en route to a 79-63 non-conference women's basketball victory over Young Harris College Thursday (Nov. 19) evening at Walker Gymnasium.
                                                     
The Flames improved to 2-1 while the Mountain Lions fell to 1-1. Young Harris returns to action Saturday (Nov. 21) when they host Lees-McRae College in a 1:30 p.m. homecoming game at the YHC Basketball Arena.
 
Lee, which shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, used a 13-2 run midway through the first quarter as the Flames opened up a 16-5 lead on a three-point by Kayla Beavers with 3:42 remaining. Lee pushed it to 19 points at 32-13 after a Shelby Brown layup with 8:35 to play in the first half. Beavers connected on a three-point right before the intermission to open up the largest lead of the game at 46-19. The Mountain Lions shot 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from the field in the first half.
 
Young Harris, which shot the ball better in the second half at 46.9 percent (15-of-32), started the third quarter on a 10-4 run to close the margin to 50-32 after a Meredith Tarver layup with 6:45 remaining. Lee pushed the lead back to 24 points before ended the quarter on an 11-2 run to trim the deficit to 15 points (60-45). Jasmine Knight and Tarver each had four points during the rally.
 
The Mountain Lions closed to within 14 points (64-50) with 7:17 remaining on a Sarah Garner jumper in the paint, but that would be as close as they would get the remainder of the contest.
 
"Lee is a very good basketball team," said YHC head coach Matt Stearsman. "They punished us for every mistake we made defensively. I told our team after the game I learned a lot tonight not only about our team, but myself as well. I made some mistakes that put us in a deep hole. However, these ladies battled and battled. I wasn't sure how the second half would go, but they proved to me tonight we are tough as nails and can really play in another gear when we want."

Brown led the Flames with 19 points while Carrie Cheeks (18) and Erin Walsh (11) finished in double figures. Briana Bell paced the Mountain Lions with a career-high 21 points on the strength of 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Tarver finished with 14 points while Jenny Vernet had eight points and seven rebounds. Knight and Garner tallied seven points apiece.