SAINT LEO, Fla. – Despite senior forward Lauren Lee’s third double-double of the season (11 pts., 10 rebs.), the Saint Leo women’s basketball team (7-5, 0-2 SSC) could not overcome 25 turnovers as the Lynn University Fighting Knights (7-4, 1-1 SSC) took down the Lions, 52-39, Sunday afternoon in Sunshine State Conference play from the Marion Bowman Activities Center. The loss snaps the Lions four game winning streak.
In addition to Lee’s game-high 11, Brittany Carannante bucketed nine points and led the team with three steals. Chelsea Williams also chipped in eight points, while Keishara Green was a force on the glass tying Lee with 10 boards.
In the most telling statistic of the night, the Lions, who are coming off a season-low nine turnovers in a win over Valdosta State, committed 25 turnovers including 14 in the first half. The Fighting Knights took advantage of the miscues and converted them into 24 points.
The low scoring affair saw the Lions grab an early 4-2 lead with 16:34 to play in the first half. Unfortunately, that was one of only four times the Lions lead and marked the biggest of those occasions. In fact, Saint Leo held their two point lead until the 13:25 mark. It was at that point when Chelsea Patterson and the Fighting Knight went on a 13-0 run to claim a 20-9 lead with 10:28 left.
Lynn kept a running lead of nearly 10 for the remainder of the period as they went into the break up, 29-20.
A prime opportunity presented itself for the Green & Gold out of the interlude as the Lions’ defense conceded just one field goal over the first 10:38. During this stretch, Saint Leo shrank the 11-point margin down to two points, outscoring the visitors, 10-3. The momentum continued to swing towards the Lions bench a few minutes later when Joanna Bussa struck on a three-point field goal attempt to give Saint Leo their first lead since early in the first half.
After a free throw tied the game for Lynn, Chelsea Patterson delivered what proved to be the dagger to Saint Leo as she dropped down her fourth three-point basket of the game to take the lead for good. The shot sparked a 15-2 rally over the final five minutes of play as the Lions could not muster enough offense to stay with the Fighting Knight down the stretch.
On the evening, the Lions out-rebounded the Fighting Knights, 45-35. The bench also did a solid job, outmaneuvering Lynn, 15-2. Unfortunately, Saint Leo could only get to the line 10 times and only made five of those attempts, while Lynn sank 15-of-17 shots (88.2%) in the win.
The Lions will continue SSC action this Wednesday, January 5 when they take on Florida Southern from the Marion Bowman Activities Center. Tip-off for the contest is set for 5:30 p.m.
