After a full day of basketball in Allen Arena Saturday, the Lady Bisons finished with a loss to Northern Kentucky while the men dominated the Norse on the opening day of conference play.
The Lady Bisons put up a strong fight throughout the first half against a quick-paced Lady Norse team, but the two teams remained close in scoring until the end of the first half which left Lipscomb trailing by fourteen points.
Head coach Greg Brown rejuvenated the team during the break. He stated later that he did not fault their energy at all, and the team did a great job of keeping their spirits up and imitating their routines from practice.
Despite the needed break, the second half proved to be too much for the women. In the final 20 minutes of the game, the Lady Bisons worked their way back and cut the lead to eight points; however, they struggled to completely close the deficit.
“We held the ball a little bit too much on offense,” Brown said.
Junior Danay Fothergill and redshirt sophomore Chandler Cooper revived their team with multiple points off of steals on defense and strong offensive plays. Fothergill was the leading scorer with 21 points.
Ultimately, the Lady Bisons could not pull out the win they desired going into the first conference game. The Lady Norse came away with the 81-70 victory.
“I thought we played very tough, but we have to be able to put toughness and intensity and technique together for forty minutes,” Brown said.
The men’s game, however, had a very different ending. The Bisons were determined from the beginning to bring Lipscomb a win, and they did. Lipscomb defeated the Norse 80-61.
Both Northern Kentucky and Lipscomb set a rigorous pace that the Bisons maintained throughout the game.
Midway through the first half, Lipscomb pulled ahead and led by ten points until half-time. They kept the lead due to their increase in scoring, but also their concentration on defense.
“Defense was a really big focus,” sophomore Josh Williams said.
As the game continued, Williams, the leading scorer in the game with 24 points, and J.C. Hampton led the team. The offense worked together seamlessly with solid passes, quick shots, and many successful three pointers.
This week’s spotlight player, Nathan Moran, began the game struggling to make a shot. Once the second half started, he proved unstoppable. Moran sank four three-pointers to help keep the team in a solid lead.
Northern Kentucky attempted to pull up their score, but the Bisons overpowered them. Head coach Casey Alexander credited Hampton with forcing many Norse turnovers.
“The assist-turnovers [are] a real key figure for us,” Alexander said.
Tuesday, the men’s team will face a different challenge in their matchup against USC Upstate in Allen Arena at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Bisons will also face Upstate, but on Wednesday at 6:00 pm in Spartanburg.
Photos courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics