Coach Greg Brown and his team got a different outcome in their final exhibition game on Saturday than the one they had a week ago. Lipscomb’s women’s basketball team controlled the game from start to finish for a 83-45 drubbing of Rhodes college in Allen Arena.
Lipscomb suffered an exhibition loss last week to Freed-Hardman, an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) school, but the outcome was never doubted on Saturday. Brown helped the Lady Bisons improve during practice and noticed their advancement at the game.
“There was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm about the things we have been working on in practice defensively,” Brown said after the win. “That’s what you’re looking for is to get carryover from the exhibition games to the next week at practice and then to the first game. I liked our positioning and our ball pressure was much better.”
The Bisons used a balanced attack to overwhelm the Lynx, with five players scoring in double figures, led by point guard Loren Cagle who brought in 16 points for the Bisons. Alex Banks and Loshaveon Jones both scored 12 for Lipscomb, followed by Meredith Lovelady’s 11 and Laure Assena’s 10 points.
“That’s how we recruit, and thats the depth that we’re looking for, and it shows that we’ve got unselfish players,” Brown said.
Cagle was the picture of efficiency in the contest, shooting 6-7 from the floor, including a perfect 4-4 from the three-point line to go along with four rebounds and three assists. She was recently named on the Nancy Lieberman watch list, an award that goes to the nation’s top point guards who exhibit leadership, play-making ability and ball-handling.
“Loren just has such great poise and she plays within herself. She has a maturity about her and it’s exciting for us to watch and to see that come forward,” Brown said.
The Lady Bisons held Rhodes to 21.4% shooting on the night and forced 19 turnovers. They also won by a dominating 52-39 margin on the boards. Lipscomb shot 44.1% from the field and 52.4% from deep-range in the game.
The Bisons will open up the regular season at Loyola (MD) on Friday in Baltimore at 5 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics