MEMPHIS-The Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs led for most of the first half, but visiting Lee used an 8-0 run early in the second half to take the lead for good on their way to a 60-48 win at Canale Arena Thursday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Lady Bucs (7-11, 6-6 GSC) seized control early with a 7-0 burst sparked by a Courtney Banks (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) triple and capped by a pair of Mikaela Blissett (Oran, Mo./Scott County Central HS) free throws that gave them a 12-7 lead with 2:09 remaining in the quarter.
• CBU extended its lead to six points twice in the second quarter, first on a Kelsey Adkins (Lawrenceburg, Tenn./Lawrence County HS) layup that put them ahead 17-11 with 8:30 remaining, then on a Blissett layup that gave them a 23-17 edge with 3:11 remaining in the quarter.
• Carrie Cheeks started the game-changing run with back-to-back layups for Lee (17-3, 10-2), and Lindsey Roddy capped it with a layup that gave them a 34-31 lead with 4:41 remaining in the third. Cheeks scored all of her 14 points in the second half.
• Brynne Lytle (Jackson, Tenn./Trinity Christian Academy) tied the game at 36 with a three-pointer with 3:14 remaining in the third, but the Lady Flames used a 12-4 run capped by a pair of Taylor Boggess free throws with 7:57 remaining in the game, and the Lady Bucs were unable to come closer than four points again.

KEY STATS:
• Banks scored 14 points to lead the Lady Bucs, adding five assists as she returned to the starting lineup.
• Blissett scored nine with six rebounds, and she tied her career-high with five steals in 36 minutes. She finished 3-of-5 from the floor and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
• Rafaella Angelidou (Thessaloniki, Greece/Aristoteleio Kollegeio) scored nine with five rebounds in 27 minutes.
• The Lady Bucs shot 38.0 percent (19-of-50) overall, including 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from three-point range. Lee finished 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the floor, including 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from beyond the arc.
• Lee out-rebounded the Lady Bucs 36-25, including an 11-5 edge in offensive boards. CBU forced 18 Lady Flames turnovers while committing 15.

HEAD COACH SARAH CONDRA'S THOUGHTS:
On Carrie Cheeks' strong second half:
"When you let her catch it two feet from the paint, you just can't let her catch it that close to the basket. She established her position and all she had to do was turn around and shoot a layup. You need to make it so she can't get down there, but that's what good players do. They establish their position and then take advantage when you give it to them."

On the 2nd Half:
"When you give up 21 points in the first half and then 40 in the second, it's just not a consistent effort. Especially defensively, we're really good when we're able to get stops and get out and run. In the second half we weren't getting stops so it really stalled us. We weren't getting things as much in rhythm.  Give them all the credit in the world, they started making shots and playing aggressively on defense. It's just tougher for us to score. Seemed like they were getting some easy buckets and took advantage of our ball screen defense. We had to work so hard for everything we got, but that's the reason they're 10-2 in the conference."

On the team's youth:
"It's disappointing now, because we're close and just do enough to hurt ourselves. I feel bad for the players, they're so close they just can't see it sometimes. We do have some good key pieces with Kenzie and Brynne. Enochs played well tonight and Shelmesha obviously, plus when Johnna gets back. Our future is bright. I told them at West Alabama it can feel like we're at the bottom of the mountain looking up at the mountain top, and feels like we're far away, but we're a lot closer to the top than we think. We just have to get a little more consistent."

On the standings being wide open:
"It really is. I'm trying not to put pressure on the team, but the chance to host is available. We've got to take advantage of some of these games, you've got to win some. It doesn't matter what anyone else does if you don't take care of it. We've got a big game on Saturday, that's going to be critical. If we can get that one obviously ill feel a lot better about our chances."

Overall takeaways:
"I'm proud of the kids. It's always tough after a loss to seem positive all the time, sometimes you've got to give yourself some time to kind of let it roll off your back. We're at a good place, we just have to keep our heads about us, keep grinding it out, not only this year but for next year as well. The future is bright though and I am pleased about that."

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Lady Bucs return to action Saturday at 1 p.m. as they host Shorter for Homecoming.