by Erika Plunkett | Dec 18, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb womens basketball team won their third home game of the week 82-60 Friday afternoon against the Converse College after taking advantage of the Valkyries turnovers improving their record to 3-1. The Lady Bisons got off to another fast start against the Valkryies leading 7-0, but in what has been a season of runs for Lipscomb, the Bisons quickly lost their lead as Converse went on a 10-2 run aided by Lipscomb turnovers. Lipscomb was able to recover the lead behind senior forward Taylor Clark’s second three of the first quarter, and shots from junior guard Sydney Shelton and freshman guard Jordan Peete padded the lead for the Lady Bisons going into the second quarter. Missed shots and turnovers allowed the Valkryies to stay close, but Lipscomb would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the first half, leading at the break by eight points off of 10 second quarter turnovers from Converse. Coming back from the half, Lipscomb began to take advantage in transition offense, holding the height advantage over the guard heavy Converse roster. Points in the paint from sophomore center Dorie Harrison and a shot from downtown by Clark finally provided some separation for the Lady Bisons, who extended their lead to 15 points before the media break. The Valkyries held Lipscomb without a field goal for three minutes, but continued turnovers and fouls kept the Lady Bisons ahead by 15 at the end of the third quarter. Lipscomb continued to take advantage of Converse turnovers finishing the day with 33 points off of 28 turnovers. Starting the fourth quarter, Lipscomb went on...
by Erika Plunkett | Dec 17, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
After last minute cancellations and rescheduling, Lipscomb women’s basketball hosted the Morehead State Eagles in a Thursday afternoon matinee matchup and survived a series of runs to pull off the 79-73 win. In a game that involved a total of six lead changes and three ties, Lipscomb jumped out to an early lead 11-2 going into the first media break. The Eagles quickly adjusted to a full court press which forced seven early turnovers from the Bisons, and Morehead State took the lead into the second quarter. Lipscomb head coach Lauren Sumski said, “I wish we could have gotten rid of the last five minutes of the first quarter.” The Eagles continued their scoring, including a couple uncharacteristic threes, to complete the 19 point turnaround. Morehead State then led the Bisons by nine, before Lipscomb switched to a zone defense and went on a 19-0 run of their own, led by key shots from redshirt junior guard Sydney Shelton, who shot her 14 points in the first half. The Bisons’ success from their second quarter changes marked a big change from a year ago. Coach Sumski attributed the 19-0 run to her girls doing a really good job sticking with and trusting the plan. “Basketball is a game of runs,” said senior forward Taylor Clark. “Our biggest growth from last year to this year is withstanding runs.” But it was the Eagles who came out stronger in the second half rapidly cutting into the Bisons’ 12 point with an 8-0 before taking a five point lead of their own into the fourth quarter, led by junior forward Ellie Jo...
by Erika Plunkett | Dec 8, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, News, News Slider
Lipscomb mourns the loss of graduate student and administrative coordinator for Lipscomb CEA, Haley Sue Pearson, 25, who died tragically after being struck by a vehicle in Hendersonville, TN. “She was a light to everyone she knew and always lifted people up with her words of encouragement and kind spirit,” said Mike Fernandez, dean of the College of the Entertainment and the Arts. “She was a brave soul that would rush in, without hesitation, to help whenever it was needed. “As I look back on her work in the CEA I can say that she was the glue that held my office and the college together. She had a strong motor and an intense work ethic. We are who we are today because of her.” In addition to her roles at the university, Pearson also served as an event coordinator for Lipscomb Academy’s high school football gamedays. While an undergraduate student at Lipscomb, Pearson was involved as a member of the Pi Delta social club and a cheerleader for the Bisons. Pi Delta shared this post in honor of her life and legacy. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ★ PI DELTA ★ (@pideltalu) Pearson is survived by her husband of three months, Nathanial (Nat) Hubert; parents, Stacy and Pam Pearson, of Franklin, Tennessee; sister, Hadley; brother, Hayden. In an email to students, Lipscomb’s Vice President of Student Life, Al Sturgeon, asked for prayers for the Pearson family and shared the following resources that Lipscomb is offering to cope during this time of loss. First, Zoom grief processing groups are available with the University Counseling Center...
by Erika Plunkett | Nov 5, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
Even though positive COVID-19 numbers on Lipscomb’s campus have risen in recent weeks, Lipscomb athletic director Philip Hutcheson remains positive about how Lipscomb athletics has managed the pandemic this fall. “I think the semester has gone really well considering where we are at,” said Hutcheson. “The NCAA made some decisions athletically in terms of how we were going to have to deal with this.” While much of Lipscomb athletics’ success with the COVID pandemic is due to the vigilance of the staff, coaches, and players, some pressing concerns were alleviated by some of the NCAA’s decisions. “We weren’t sure starting out if we were going to have fall sports or not, and then they [the NCAA] decided not to have fall sports,” said Hutcheson. “That took care of a lot of the questions we had about logistics and how to handle events and crowds and that sort of thing.” Fall sports may have been canceled, but practices and preparations for the spring continue, and so adjustments have had to be made to reduce the spread of the virus. “We’re still trying to deal with distancing, cleaning things a lot more often, or using different routing for how we come in and out of places,” said Hutcheson. “One of the things that’s different for athletes compared to the rest of the student body is we do a lot of testing of our athletes. Depending on the sport they play, they’re classified as either a high contact sport, medium contact, low contact. So basketball, for instance, is a high contact sport. They test more often. ” With these protocols, athletics has...
by Erika Plunkett | Aug 14, 2020 | COVID-19, News, News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb volleyball head coach Brandon Rosenthal was being hopeful that a season on the brink of COVID extinction would be rescued when he was interviewed recently. Now that the season has been postponed — the ASUN on Friday announced it was halting all fall sports because of the COVID epidemic and hoping to reschedule them for the spring — his and his players’ hopes have been dashed. Or at least delayed. In the interview prior to Friday’s news, Rosenthal said being “resilient” is a key factor for the team because the pandemic already had thrown the games and even practice into an uproar. At the time, possibilities being tossed around included playing only in-conference or moving the season into the spring. In making Friday’s announcement, ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart, called it “a huge disappointment.” “Anyone who follows college sports understands the dynamics that brought us to this decision, but that doesn’t mean we like it. My feelings right now? COVID stinks. If you weren’t putting my words into a public release, I might put it another way.” The postponement of competition in conference-sponsored fall semester sports includes men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. So far, the basketball seasons for men and women remain unaffected, at least in terms of scheduling games. Scheduling will be a big issue for the fall sports, though, now that they have to wait until spring, if the disease allows for play then. “We will make every effort to provide a quality competitive experience for our fall student-athletes during the spring semester,” Gumbart said in the conference press release. “We’re...
