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 Mckenzi Harris | Mar 1, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons started with a lead but lost it to Liberty right before halftime eventually costing them the game 70 to 79 on senior day. “We were expecting to compete,” said head coach Lauren Sumski. “We were expecting to play a little bit smarter in the sense of taking care of the ball, but everything else was about what we expected. I thought our young ladies shot the ball well and played hard.” Even trailing late in the fourth quarter, the Lady Bisons fought until the end. Casey Collier fouled out with 1:04 left in the 4th quarter. And the team was fouling back and forth from 1:04 to the end. “At the end, were just a team that doesn’t quit and just tries to find opportunities,” said Sumski. The Bisons scored at least 20 in the first, third, and fourth quarters, but only seven in the second quarter. The Liberty Flames gained their lead in the middle of the second quarter and the Bisons didn’t gain their lead back after that. Carleigh Short was injured during the game and walked off the court. “I just know she got hurt and walked off the court,” said Sumski. “Carleigh is probably my physically and mentally toughest player so I knew when she walked off the court, she was done. So I’m gonna see what we can do to get her back by this weekend.” The Lady Bisons finished the regular season with a record of 7-22 (4-12) including this loss and Liberty improves to 17-11 (10-5). The Lady Bisons will play FGCU in the first round of the ASUN...
by Erika Plunkett | Feb 16, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
The FGCU Eagles continued their conference winning streak, defeating the Lady Bisons 78-45 in Allen Arena Saturday afternoon for their 40th consecutive ASUN victory. With this win, the Eagles also secured at least a share of the ASUN regular-season championship and home-court advantage for the ASUN tournament. Despite the score, Lipscomb led for much of the first half, giving FGCU their first double-digit deficit in conference play this season, when the Lady Bisons were able to take a 17-5 lead with a minute left in the first quarter. Freshman guard Casey Collier stepped up with 12 of Lipscomb’s 29 first-half points. But beginning in the second quarter and continuing into the second half, FGCU flexed their muscles and put together a 45-point turnaround. Leading the Eagles to this masterful comeback performance was Eagles junior forward Tytionia Adderly, who finished the afternoon with 28 points, including seven three-pointers, and eight rebounds in only 28 minutes. For Lipscomb, Collier was the leading scorer with her 14 points, followed closely by junior forward Taylor Clark who put up 11 points. However, noticeably quiet in the scorers’ column for the Lady Bisons was freshman guard Jalyn Holcomb, who has not only led Lipscomb in scoring but is also the leading freshman scorer in the conference. Holcomb scored only six points and was 1-6 from the field, as the Eagles’ experienced upperclassmen domineered on defense. Lipscomb will likely have the chance to redeem themselves against FGCU in the tournament. The Lady Bisons are expected to finish seventh or eighth in the conference, while the Eagles have already clinched one of the top two seeds,...
by Grant Ledgister | Feb 2, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
Poor shooting in the second half doomed the Lady Bisons in the first game of Saturday’s basketball doubleheader against the Stetson Hatters, as Lipscomb fell 48-34. The game got off to an interesting start with a jump ball on the tip-off that caused a re-tip. From there until the end of the half, things were slow going for both teams. Stetson’s junior forward Day’neshia Banks scored first to give the Hatters a two-point lead within the first minute but scoring dried up from there. It would be nearly three minutes before either team would score another basket. Stetson scored all of the early baskets, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. Lipscomb’s senior guard Carleigh Short responded with a three-pointer to open the scoring for the Lady Bisons and started a 9-1 run that gave them a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Neither team scored a basket for the first five minutes of the second quarter. The drought ended when freshman guard Kimia Carter scored a two-pointer for the Hatters to tie the game at nine. A heartwarming moment happened for Lipscomb near the end of the quarter. Sophomore forward Kailey Rosenbaum checked in to a game for the first time all season. Neither team shot very well in the half. The Lady Bisons went 7-27 from the field, and the Hatters went a slightly better 8-23. Lipscomb had a 19-17 lead with three seconds to go in a quarter where neither team led by more than four points. Stetson got the ball up the court and junior guard Tonysha Curry scored a layup as time expired...
by Grant Ledgister | Jan 28, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
Mistakes and overwhelming defensive pressure saw Lipscomb drop its second conference game in a row to the Jacksonville University Dolphins 73-64. Lipscomb was competitive early, tying the game at seven with six minutes to go in the quarter. Two minutes later, with Lipscomb only down one, a 9-0 run began for Jacksonville, putting the team up 20-10. The run, fueled by missed shots and good rebounding play off those missed shots, came to an end with a pair of free throws stemming from a technical foul called on Jacksonville’s freshman guard Da’nasia Shaw. Lipscomb went on a 6-0 scoring run early in the second quarter before having it wiped out by an identical run from the Dolphins who went on to extend their lead to 30-17. Junior forward Taylor Clark and sophomore guard Jane Deason helped close the gap slightly to 36-25 at the end of the half. Jacksonville’s defense was stifling in the first half. The Dolphins played a full-court trap defense that looked to be beatable initially by the Lady Bisons offense. The team would throw a series of quick passes to find the open player for a score. This was not the case as the game went on. The pressure proved difficult to overcome and forced Lipscomb into bad shots and other costly mistakes. One such mistake was turnovers. Lipscomb committed 14 of them in the half, which led to 12 points for the Dolphins. Also costly for the Lady Bisons was fouling. The Dolphins shot 10 free throws in the first half, making nine of them. Despite the deficit, Lipscomb did have some bright spots...
