Lady Bisons can’t overcome offensive woes against Stetson

Despite a back and forth first half, the Lipscomb Lady Bisons extended their losing streak to 10 games in a 82-47 loss to the Stetson Hatters at Allen Arena. The win for the Hatters was their eighth in a row. The Hatters came out firing on all cylinders after halftime, starting off the second half with a 13-0 run to extend their 11 point lead to 24. The Lady Bisons struggled to find their shooting touch throughout the game as Stetson’s defense was strong from the get-go. The Lady Bisons shot 15-66 from the floor on the game. Lispcomb especially had trouble behind the arch, finishing the game 6-33 from the 3-point line. The Lady Bisons usual sharpshooters all had trouble finding the basket. Danay Fothergill, Chandler Cooper and Sara Bliss combined to shoot just 3-24 from outside. One silver lining for the Lady Bisons was the play of sophomore Ashley Southern. Southern almost notched a double-double in the first half with nine points and 11 rebounds. She finished off the achievement in the second half, ending the game with 14 points (on 6-14 shooting) with 16 rebounds. Southern has now recorded a double-double in seven straight games. Southern is also closing in on the Atlantic Sun Conference record for most double-doubles in a season. She has 16 double-doubles on the season, just five away from the conference record of 21. “I mean, that’s pretty exciting, but I’d much rather us be number one in the conference,” Southern said. With the outside shot lacking, the Lady Bisons ran the offense through Southern for most of the game. Even though...

Best defensive game by the Lady Bisons not enough against FGCU Eagles

The Lady Bisons played their best defensive game of the year but came out short against number one, Florida Gulf Coast University. The beginning of the game was a slow start for both teams offensively, but ultimately the Bisons jumped out on top leading by as many as ten in the first half. What started as a pretty even game at the half slowly tilted in favor of the Eagles landing the final score at 67-85. “We didn’t come out with the same defensive intensity and they knocked down some shots and made us pay for it,” said junior Ashley Southern who marked her 15 double-double of the year. The women were not only up against the number one team in the conference but the number nine team in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 9.2. The Bisons gave up 13 of them to FGCU in their 38 attempts. Junior Sara Bliss came out aggressive in her role with six rebounds, three assists and multiple tips. Bliss fought hard for balls forcing at least two jump balls. “I’m definitely a shooter, they tell me to shoot it all the time, but as one of the older players with more experience, I need to bring the leadership asset to the game as well,” Bliss said. Bliss, Southern, Danay Fothergill, Kelli Smith and Chandler Cooper were the starters for the Bison and accounted for all but four points. Lipscomb’s bench, however limited, added only four points to the board compared to 27 off of the Eagle’s bench. The leading scorer of the game was Fothergill who also sunk 10 out...

Lady Bisons battle but fall short to Kennesaw State Owls

A battle took place tonight in Allen Arena as the Lady Bisons returned home to take on Kennesaw State University after being away during the Christmas break. The Lipscomb Women’s Basketball team is 0-3 in conference after tonight’s 82-78 loss to KSU. Kennesaw scored the first points of the game, but did not regain the lead until the 11 minute mark in the first half. After that point in the game, the Lady Bisons struggled both offensively and defensively. At the half, the Owls led 45-36. Lady Bison Assistant Coach John Wild said the team needed to change some aspects of the game to be successful in the second half. “We’re doing a bad job defensively just being active,” Wild said. “I think if we can get some touches and deflections and that sort of thing, it may take them out of rhythm.” The Lady Bisons had a shooting percentage in the high 60’s during the first half, but went downhill during the second half. As the first half wore on, Lipscomb struggled with rebounds and down low in the paint.  One of the Lady Bison’s strongest players, forward Ashley Southern, had a hard time in the second half getting beat down low. The Lady Bisons did not give up and fought back for a lead. Redshirt Sophomore Danay Fothergill played in her first home game tonight and made herself known. Fothergill fouled out of the game at the end of the second half after scoring 18 points and winning seven rebounds. In the second half Coach Greg Brown and the Bisons began pressuring the Owls much more. Some...

Lady Bisons surge, yet fall short of comeback in loss to Murray State

It almost felt like two separate games for the Lady Bisons basketball team in their 86-79 loss at home to the Murray State Racers on Saturday. In the first half, sloppy play, fouls and turnovers were the story. Murray State had 13 fouls and 6 turnovers, while the Lady Bisons had 11 fouls and 7 turnovers in the first twenty minutes of action. In the second half, the Lady Bisons surged back from being down by 16 points at one point, and with the help of a Chandler Cooper three-point shot, Lipscomb tied the game at 56. However, the Racers pulled away in the closing minutes with the aid of free throws and missed Lipscomb shots to hold on for the victory. Head coach Greg Brown said that in the second half, the team did make improvements. “We did a better job of getting the ball inside, [getting] drives and cuts right there,” Brown said. “I thought we did a better job of executing that part of the game.” Junior Sara Bliss led the Lady Bisons in scoring with 22, 12 of those points from the arc. Redshirt sophomore Ashley Southern picked up a double-double for the game. She scored 20 points and led the team in rebounds with 15. “My teammates were just looking for me inside in the second half, sending me the ball. [It] helped a lot,” Southern said. “We played really well today. I thought, at the very end, we were playing well, but we should have been doing it the whole game.” Southern also said that the team was playing harder in the last...

Transfer Chandler Cooper has strong start as Lady Bison in ‘Battle’ loss to Belmont

By Carter Sanderson and Cory Woodroof  The Belmont Bruins made the short drive to Allen Arena Thursday night for the Lady Bisons’ edition of “Battle of the Boulevard,” making this the third game in five days for the Lady Bisons.   However, Lipscomb (0-3) was joined by a new face. As of Thursday morning, the NCAA ruled Florida transfer Chandler Cooper eligible. Cooper made her debut in Thursday night’s match-up against Belmont, giving the Lady Bisons a solid lift. Cooper had 10 points and three rebounds in her first game with Lipscomb. The new Lady Bison did give the team a spark, but Lipscomb was only able to come up with 20 first-half points, trailing the Bruins 32-20 at the half. The Lady Bisons came out to start the second half, hitting back-to-back threes by guards Cooper and forward Ashley Southern, cutting the lead back to single digits. However, that wasn’t enough to overcome the strong showing by the Bruins backcourt in Jordyn Luffman and Blair Bryce,who were both in double-figures for the Bruins. Belmont won the contest 68-52. Ashley Southern led the Lady Bisons with 11 points and 16 rebounds, gaining another double-double on the year. Freshman Faith LeGate also had 10 points for the evening. Cooper says that while it’s been a while since she’s been on the court, she doesn’t expect it to be a long transition. “I haven’t played a game in over a year and a half,” Cooper said. “I’m a little out of shape, but that’s nothing that reps and practice can’t take care of.” The Lady Bisons will have a week to practice and prepare before...