by Mckenzi Harris | Jul 23, 2019 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider
A rule-change by the NCAA has forced Lipscomb to move the three-point lines around the goals at Allen Arena back to the international distance, forcing cosmetic changes to the striping on the floor. The international distance is 22 feet, 1-3/4 inches, quite a bit farther than the old NCAA distance of 20-feet, nine inches from the basket. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel “also approved resetting the shot clock at 20 seconds after a field goal attempt hits the rim and the offensive team rebounds the ball in the front-court,” according to the NCAA. This new shot-clock rule, as well as an international distance three-point line, were experimental rules in the 2019 NIT, in which Lipscomb’s men made it to the championship game. The NCAA decided a full 30-second shot clock is not needed, since the offensive team has already secured the rebound and is in the front-court. The new three-point striping will mean necessary change to the relatively new Lipscomb court. The court in Allen Arena had to be redone after Liberty University in 2013 claimed sole use of the “LU” logo, eventually forcing Lipscomb to replace the initials on the court with the university’s name. Currently, the only visible change being made to the court is the moving back of the three-point line. Photos by Co-Managing Editor, Erika...
by Grant Ledgister | May 22, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Due to the academic successes of its athletes, all of Lipscomb’s sports programs have escaped classroom-related penalties from the NCAA for the 12th straight year. The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a system put in place by the NCAA to help measure whether Division I schools are ensuring their student-athletes are doing well academically. First enforced in 2003, APR is a statistic that tracks the “eligibility” and “retention” of athletic programs and their athletes nationwide. APR is calculated by giving one point per student-athlete in a given athletic program that is receiving financial aid for athletics, and another point if those students remain above the mandated academic thresholds. These points are added up, then divided by points possible, and finally multiplied by 1,000 to get the program’s total APR score. Programs with low APR scores will be penalized, with the first penalty being a limitation on practice time (16 hours over five days instead of 20 over 6). The NCAA also averages out the APR scores from the past four years to see if the program meets the minimum 930 standards it has set, and if the program does not, it is in danger of receiving a ban from participation in championship games. “It correlates an athlete’s ability to do the coursework,” said Lipscomb Athletic Director Philip Hutcheson. “A system that has some standards as opposed to not having any is probably the better approach,” In a year that saw 12 programs across 20 schools receive penalties, all of Lipscomb’s programs received scores high enough to avoid the one of their own. Men’s and women’s golf received the highest...
by Grant Ledgister | May 19, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb was eliminated from the NCAA Tuscaloosa regional tournament Saturday by falling 10-1 to Arizona State. It was the second loss to Arizona State, which dropped Lipscomb into the losers’ bracket by winning 4-3 Friday. The Lady Bisons played two games Saturday, both games cut short due to the run rule, but only the first one — a victory over Alabama State — came out in Lipscomb’s favor, with a 14-0 lead after five innings enough to send the Lady Hornets packing. The scoring started early in the first elimination game Saturday against Alabama State. In the second inning, Sarah Higgins was walked, advanced to third off of a Jordan Fortel grounder that got popped into the air, and then scored on the next batter. Khayla Green then hit a single to drive Fortel to third, and with a bases-loaded walk, two batters later scored her. Alabama State then made a pitching change, but it didn’t help things for the Lady Hornets. A grounder from Graysen Gladden scored two to make it 4-0. Peyton Ward hit a line drive over a third that bounced off the wall. The hit scored two runners to make the score 6-0. A couple of batters later, the bases were loaded again. Jenna Pealor hit a grand slam, her eighth home run of the season, that increased the Lady Bisons’ lead to 10-0. Lipscomb added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the game ended in the top of the next inning due to the run-ahead rule. The win set up a rematch with Arizona State University, which lost to...
by Grant Ledgister | May 19, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons made it close but ultimately couldn’t overcome the Arizona State Sun Devils, losing 4-3 in the opening round of the Tuscaloosa Regional tournament and road to the Women’s College World Series. Lipscomb fell to Arizona State, a team with a high-powered offense, solid pitching, and strong defense. Pitching and the outfield were the most important aspects of the game for either team through the first two innings. In the first inning, Lipscomb’s first two batters struck out before a popout ended the inning. Amy Vetula was able to record all three of the outs for Lipscomb’s defense. In the second inning, things play balanced out. Arizona State’s defense got two of the three outs (including a barehanded catch and throw from Jade Gortarez to first), while Lipscomb’s Mandy Jordan earned a strikeout and Destinee Brewer chased down a long shot to end the inning. Cielo Meza struck out four through four innings of play for the Sun Devils and only allowed two runners to reach base. A Sarah Higgins double followed by a home run from Jenna Pealor put the Lady Bisons up 2-0 in the fourth inning. The Sun Devils would respond quickly. Kindra Hackbarth hit a double in the bottom of the same inning. Two batters later, Gortarez hit an RBI single that cut Lipscomb’s lead to one and cut its momentum. Lipscomb had a chance to extend the lead in the fifth inning but couldn’t capitalize on it. A tag-out at second and a foul-out ended any chance of the Lady Bisons scoring in the fifth. Arizona State has the third-ranked offense in...
by Mckenzi Harris | Mar 11, 2019 | Galleries, News Slider
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team had a chance to earn a return trip to the NCAA tournament if it could win Sunday’s ASUN championship game. But Liberty (28-6) stood in the way, and most of the record crowd of 5,607 in Allen Arena went home in disappointment. The Flames used a 45-point outburst in the second half to squeeze past the No. 1 Bisons, 74-68. That gave the No. 2 Flames the ASUN championship and an automatic berth to the Big Dance. “It certainly stings,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “It’s a real privilege to be part of a game like that. I loved the Lipscomb people that showed up and made it a great day for us.” Full recap by Russell Vannozzi here. « ‹ of 4 ›...
