The Lady Bisons have been eliminated from post-season contention following their 69-53 loss to NJIT.
Lipscomb turned the ball over 24 times which resulted in 36 points for the NJIT Highlanders.
The Lady Bisons came into the game hoping to keep their A-Sun Tournament hopes alive by winning their next three games against ASUN opponents. However, this loss officially eliminates them from any chance of making it to the tournament.
“It’s tough when you see how hard they work and then to see it not get rewarded is tough,” Lipscomb head coach Greg Brown said.
The Lady Bisons lost seven players due to graduation last year. This forced them to play with a very young team that included six freshman players.
“There’s always a learning curve,” Brown said. “We always try to tell them you don’t know when it’s going to click. You just have to get better individually which will make us better as a team.”
Lipscomb is also without a single senior on the entire roster.
“Without seniors you know that the journey continues and that you’re building for next season,” Brown said. “You’re going to see…growth out of these guys (next season).”
The Game
The first quarter of the game was dominated by missed shots for both teams. The Bisons and the Highlanders each had a field goal percentage below 32 percent during the quarter. However, the Bisons had a slightly better percentage than the Highlanders which allowed them to lead 13-12 at the end of the quarter.
During the second quarter, the Highlanders shot much better, making 46 percent of their shots from the field. Lipscomb did not shoot as well, which allowed the Highlanders to go on a 12-0 run to end the half. That run let NJIT take an eight-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
During the second half of the game, Lipscomb was never able to get into a rhythm because of consecutive fouls and consecutive turnovers.
“36 points off 24 turnovers is going to make for a difficult night especially when we don’t shoot the ball very well,” Brown said.
NJIT did a good job of driving into the lane and drawing the foul. This led to 26 free-throws for the Highlanders just in the second half. They were able to make 19 of the 26 shots from the Line. In comparison, Lipscomb was only able to get to the free-throw line 14 times the whole game.
In the end, Lipscomb’s second half turnovers and the Highlander’s ability to draw the foul led to the 69-53 Lipscomb loss.
Up next
The Lady Bisons will look to end the season on a high note by winning their last two games of the season. They will face North Alabama on the road on Saturday before coming home to play Kennesaw State in the final game of the regular season.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics