by Erika Plunkett | Nov 20, 2019 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Sparked by Lady Bisons’ turnovers, the visiting Murray State Racers staged a late-game comeback to walk away with a 67-57 victory in a game that has Lipscomb coach Lauren Sumski perplexed. After holding the edge in the turnover battle in the first half, Lipscomb allowed 15 second-half turnovers while Murray State only allowed three. “We are better than that,” Sumski said after the Tuesday loss. “We are better than giving up 19 and 25 points in the third and fourth quarter.” Despite the fact that the Lady Bisons were unable to hit a three-point shot until late in the second quarter, it was Lipscomb that jumped out to an eight-point early in the game. Going into the halftime break, Sumski and her team still held a six-point lead, led by sophomore guard Jane Deason’s seven points and sophomore center Dorie Harrison’s six points. Entering the second half, the Lady Bisons extended their lead to 10 before four consecutive turnovers cut the lead to three. “They made a lot of the shots that we gave them from poor communication and poor transition,” Sumski said. The Racers took advantage of these missed opportunities from the Bisons and went on 25-9 run to close out the game behind sophomore guard Macey Turley’s 20 points and freshman forward Macie Gibson’s 19 points. “We are better than that defensively,” Sumski said. “But tonight I felt like they beat us to 50-50 balls, and they turned it on when it mattered. We didn’t respond in the second half when they went on their run.” The Lady Bisons continue to play this weekend in the...
by Spencer Boehme | Aug 16, 2019 | News Slider, Radio
Lipscomb’s women’s soccer team is set to take on Middle Tennessee for an exhibition match on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT. Lipscomb’s online student radio station, The Bison, will be broadcasting the game live from Murfreesboro. You can tune in here. Spencer Boehme will be on play-by-play, while Kailey Schuyler will handle color. The pregame show is set to begin 10 minutes before the match. The station will be broadcasting select Bison games all school year long. Follow Lumination Network on Twitter to keep up with the action. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Erika Plunkett | Jun 29, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Summer is already over for the Lipscomb basketball teams, which have returned to campus to get acquainted with new faces among players and staff and begin preparations for their 2019-20 campaigns. Although these teams experienced very different stories last year—with the men’s team’s NIT Finals run earning them the ASUN Beam Award and the women experiencing one of the worst seasons in program history—both teams begin this season after tremendous turnover and tumult in their programs. The men’s team’s turnover came as the result of the success of prior coach Casey Alexander, who took the job at his alma mater, Belmont, after legendary coach Rick Byrd retired. In his six years at Lipscomb, Alexander’s teams had a 113-84 record, posting three straight 20-victory seasons, including the 29-8 campaign that took them to the NIT finals last season. The year before, he led the Bisons to their first-ever NCAA March Madness berth. It was a lack of success that shaped the change in the women’s program. In four years, coach Greg Brown posted a 44-164 record. The Lady Bisons finished last season 4-25 in a campaign that included a 19-game losing streak. The school looked for new vigor from a new leader for that program. After a number of player departures, two first-time Division I head coaches, men’s basketball’s Lennie Acuff and women’s basketball’s Lauren Sumski, take over as the new head coaches of Lipscomb’s basketball programs. Joining these two are four new assistants and 12 new players, including eight on the men’s team, bringing a new vibe to Lipscomb basketball. During their battle to the NIT Finals in Madison...
by Spencer Boehme | Apr 23, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lipscomb announced Monday that Rhodes College head coach Lauren Sumski has been hired as the new women’s basketball coach. Lady Bisons fans were formally introduced to the former D-III coach at a welcoming conference Tuesday afternoon in the Hall of Fame room. “There were many candidates that we had,” Lipscomb athletic director Philip Hutcheson said. “High school, college, all levels, people from all over the country who were interested in the job. And I think that’s a credit to the Lipscomb community.” The biggest takeaway from Sumski’s introduction is how noticeably enthusiastic and energetic she was from the get-go. “I’d be remiss to not thank Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, for allowing me to be here,” Sumski said. “I’d be remiss to not thank President Lowry and Hutch, as they affectionately call him.” During what was a brutal 2018-19 season, the Lady Bisons began the year with a 2-1 record. They followed that with 19 straight losses before scraping a couple conference wins to finish the year 4-25. “This is just a reset,” Sumski said. “This isn’t a rebuild. We’re going to take every single day, and we’re going to work to be the best people we can be, the best students we can be, the best athletes we can be.” So how much of this “reset” will affect the current coaching staff? “I’m speaking with [Lipscomb assistant] Hannah Phillips,” Sumski said. “I love her. I just wanna make sure that we gel, and we click. And then outside of that, we’re just kind of taking it day-by-day. I’ve met with Kelsey [Gregory], who’s also been here.”...
by Grant Ledgister | Apr 15, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Not many people switch out of a stable job to pursue a career in something far less stable. Yet, that Lipscomb women’s soccer senior goalkeeper Kate Mason, a double major in accounting and finance, did this year. Mason had already accepted a full-time accounting position at a public accounting firm before she got an offer to play for Telge United FF, a Swedish professional soccer club. “When this came up, I knew it was something I couldn’t turn down,” Mason said. “Luckily the firm was very understanding of that and made it known that if I want to come back, there will be a spot for me.” At Lipscomb, the 5-foot-10, brown-haired goalie recorded more than 100 saves and allowed just 43 goals in her 42 career games. She posted shutouts in three of her final five games, including a 1-0 victory over Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA tournament last November. It was the support system around Mason that made her decision to play professional soccer in Europe easier. She said her coaches, teammates and friends at Lipscomb had major influence on the trajectory of her life and playing career. “This was a place that was really special to me and I had grew so much, not only as a soccer player but off the field too,” Mason said. “It was so awesome to be in a place where I was encouraged to play for something bigger than myself and use this platform to share the gospel.” A player of Mason’s caliber does not go unnoticed in the recruiting process. She could have gone to...
