CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Four Tigers compiled double-digit points to lead West Alabama Women's Basketball  to a 78-71 upset victory over Lee University in Gulf South Conference action at Paul Dana Walker Arena on Thursday.

West Alabama improves to 8-14 overall and 5-13 in the GSC. The Tigers snap a three game win streak for Lee, who entered the game tied for second place in the league standings. The Flames fall to 16-7 and 13-5. UWA remains two wins away from eighth place in the standings and securing a GSC Tournament bid.

Ariel Wilson led the Tigers with 16 points; 14 in the second half. Sydney King and Catherine Taylor each posted 14 points, followed by Chloe Culpepper with 12. The team combined to shoot 46 percent from the field (28-of-61) and 60 percent from the behind the 3-point arc (9-of-15); 80 percent in the second half (4-of-5).

"I challenged our team to get better tonight, and they did. They played calm and pretty smart basketball for most of the time," said UWA head coach Rusty Cram.

"Offensively we outscored them from the bench, which was unbelievable to me. We handled the pressure very well. We didn't just beat the press but we were still able to score."

Defensively, the Tigers set a new season best of 11 blocked shots with Culpepper tallying five. Caleb Washington followed with three blocks and King with two.  

"Since we lost to Lee at our place earlier in the year, that's when we refocused and changed some things defensively and our kids have bought into it and we've seen a harder working team getting better and better every day," Cram said.

Lee opened the game by taking an 11 point lead in the first quarter. UWA battled back, with the help of King sinking 3-of-5 three-point field goals, to claim a 33-32 lead at halftime, outscoring the Flames 22-14 in the second quarter. King had 11 points for the Tigers in the first half, while Erin Walsh and Shelby Brown had 13 points and 10 respectively for the Flames.

Eight minutes into the third quarter, West Alabama's momentum continued as it built up a 10 point lead. The Tigers captured its largest lead at 70-56 with five minutes to
play, but the Flames surged late with the help of a 12-2 point run in the final five minutes.  

King finished 4-of-6 three-point shooting, while Catherine Taylor added 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Ariel Wilson led 5-of-6 at the free-throw line, where the Tigers combined for 76 percent (13-of-17).

UWA led the rebounding effort 78-71 with Culpepper tallying eight boards.

Walsh led the Flames with 28 points, hitting 8-of-20 from the field and 9-of-9 at the free-throw line. Brown followed with 16 points, sinking 7-of-12 field goal attempts. Lee combined for 40 percent from the field (25-of-63) and 30 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-24).  

"This is hands down the best win we've had since I've been here," said Cram. "This is next year's ball club we are seeing out there, so every game we are going to get better and better and hopefully it will translate into wins."

West Alabama women's hoops will take to the road for the final time in the regular season to face Shorter University on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. (C.S.T.) in Rome, Ga.