By CURTIS ROCKWELL

MOBILE, Ala. – Former Moss Point High standout Robyn Lee made a successful return to the Gulf Coast this week.

Lee and her Louisiana Tech teammates brushed off a slow start on their way to a third straight win as the Lady Techsters beat South Alabama 68-34 on Thursday afternoon here inside the Mitchell Center.

Louisiana Tech improved to 4-9 with the win, while South Alabama dropped to 7-5. The win moved the Lady Techsters to 23-0 against South Alabama all-time.

The first quarter was an offensive struggle for both teams as South Alabama held a 5-3 lead at the media timeout. The Lady Techsters started to put more pressure on the USA ball handlers, and that defense led to better offensive production during an 8-0 run to end the quarter.

The Lady Techsters continued the pressure in the second and extended their lead to double figures. Tech would start the quarter with back-to-back triples, first by Silvia Nativi and then by Salma Bates. The Jaguars wanted to make a run mid-way through, but the 5-foot-8 junior guard Lee would respond with each bucket USA connected on.

The third quarter would see the Lady Techsters start open with a 14-3 run and extend the lead to 24. Lee and her teammates cruised to the win from there.

Lee led Tech with a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds. She also had four assists and four steals in front of a crowd of supporters from Moss Point that drove over for the game to welcome her home.

“We just really set the tone defensively early on,” Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr said. “Once we settled in offensively, our ball movement was outstanding. Our defense turned into some offense for us. We scored 28 points off their turnovers, and that’s something that this group needs to be able to do. That’s how this group’s got to win. We had four in double figures and a couple just outside. That’s what we’ve got to do. We can be balanced, and this group can be successful when that happens.”

The game capped off a pretty successful week for Lee leading up to the Christmas break. One week prior to the win over USA, the Lady Techsters raced out to an early lead before falling to SMU 69-53 in the Thomas Assembly Center in Dallas. Lee had a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.

Then, back home in Ruston, Lee and her teammates then slipped past Alcorn State 49-47 on Saturday and thumped California Baptist Wednesday 77-51 before making the move to Mobile for the big win.

The Lady Techsters opened their 50th season as a college basketball program in early November with a dominating 93-37 win over LSU-Alexandria. Lee had a career night in that win, with a career and game-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds.

 Lee is averaging nine points and almost five rebounds per game this season.  Last season, she appeared in all 32 games and averaged 6.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. Scored a season-high 20 points in late January and scored in double figures on eight occasions.

At Moss Point,  Lee lettered six years on the varsity for coach Ethan Porter and led the Lady Tigers to the Class 4A state title game as a senior, falling to Ripley 37-30. She tallied 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the state title game. She earned Dandy Dozen honors entering her senior season, and averaged 20 points per game in her final year on Dantzler Street which earned her a spot on her home state squad in the annual Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic.