by Russell Vannozzi | Apr 22, 2019 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Rhodes College women’s basketball coach Lauren Sumski is taking the same job at Lipscomb, athletic director Philip Hutcheson announced Monday morning. Sumski has been head coach at Rhodes since 2017 and compiled a 35-21 record over two seasons. She is the first-ever female to lead the Lipscomb women’s basketball program in the school’s DI era. “I am humbled, honored, and grateful,” Sumski said in a release. “I am excited for the opportunity. I think that Lipscomb has a ton of things in place for us to field a successful women’s basketball program. “More than the things, it’s just such a high-quality type of person there. We’re excited to get to work and start building back up.” Sumski, 27, will be one of the youngest college head coaches in the nation. She graduated from Rhodes in 2014 and also played one year at Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Summit. She was rated the 28th-best high school prospect in the nation by ESPNU Hoopsgurlz, although injuries slowed her time as a Lady Vol, prompting her to return to Memphis to play for Rhodes. Following her graduation, Sumski spent three seasons as an assistant at Union under Lipscomb alum Mark Campbell. Hutcheson said several people highly recommended Sumski for the job, saying that she was “on her way to great things in the coaching profession.” “Those people commented on her energy, her intelligence, her ability to connect with others and her high emotional and basketball IQ, and those involved in the process all found that to be the 100 percent truth,” Hutcheson said. “From the very first phone call to our final...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 7, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
For as difficult as the 2018-19 season was for the Lipscomb women’s basketball team, it couldn’t have ended in a better way. Junior Carleigh Short banked a three just as the clock expired in overtime, giving the Lady Bisons a 72-69 victory over Kennesaw State at Allen Arena Tuesday. “The basketball gods smiled on us for once this season,” Lipscomb coach Greg Brown said. “It’s good to end that way and get a little bit of momentum to carry us forward.” Lipscomb closed the year with a dismal 4-25 record (2-14 ASUN) and missed the conference tournament for the first time since 2013. The Lady Bisons averaged 21 turnovers per game and shot just 34 percent from the field for the season. “It’s wild how well we’ve played at times versus how poorly we played at other times,” Brown said. “It’s been one extreme or the other. They continued to practice hard and do things well, but they just hadn’t been rewarded.” Was Tuesday’s victory a sign of good things to come? The evidence says that’s a possibility. The Lady Bisons don’t have any seniors, so their entire roster will return, including top scorers Taylor Clark (11.1 PPG) and Lauren Rau (8.5 PPG). Kaylee Cotton took a redshirt due to an injury and will be back next season. They’ve also added three high school signees, and Butler transfer Sydney Shelton will be eligible after sitting out this year. “Not having a senior is definitely weird, but it also gave the freshman and us juniors time to mature,” Short said. “I really think that next year, with three new people...
by Martin Baker | Mar 6, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons wrapped up a long season with an overtime victory over Kennesaw State on Tuesday evening, thanks to a game winning three-point shot in overtime by junior Carleigh Short. “The basketball gods smiled on us for once this season,” head coach Greg Brown said. The game went into overtime with both teams tied 60-60 after a neck-and-neck match that Lipscomb led going into the fourth quarter. Overtime was back and forth with junior Lauren Rau making the basket to tie it up 69-69 in the final minute. There was less than five seconds on the clock when Short charged down court and let the ball fly to score the game winner, making the final score 72-69. It’s not often that a game is decided by a single shot, but Short said these scenarios are the kind the team has practiced for. “Honestly any one of us could have hit that shot,” Short said. “It’s something we practice, and I would have trusted it in the hands of anybody.” “We practice some of those,” Brown added. “She just did what she’s been doing. We talked about just get it and go because they’re telling them don’t foul.” Short said a lot went through her mind in those last five seconds of the game. “What went through my head first was ‘Oh, there’s five seconds left, and coach is saying ‘Go!’’” Short said. But Short wasn’t the only member of the Lady Bisons to contribute to their victory, although she was the second leading scorer for her team with a total of 17 points. No. 22 Taylor Clark also...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 3, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
After losing to NJIT on Wednesday and clinching the No. 9 seed in the ASUN, the Lady Bisons fell to the North Alabama Lions on their senior night Saturday afternoon in Florence 71-50. Lipscomb did not have much to play for Saturday, as clinching the ninth seed eliminated the Lady Bisons from the ASUN tournament next week. So, as has been this season’s story for the Bisons (3-24, 1,14 ASUN), they could not maintain their first half intensity and let a three-point game at halftime become an almost 30 point game once in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, the Lions (19-6, 10-5 ASUN) had everything to play for as this game assured them one of the top four seeds in the ASUN and the opportunity to host at least one game in the tournament in their first season as a Division 1 school. The game got off to a slow start as Lipscomb and UNA posted strong defensive performances in the first quarter but were unable to convert on the other end of the court. In this period, the two teams only posted a combined 22 points. Last time these two schools met, it was junior guard Emma Wallen who provided the early spark for the Lions. But today it was a different sister out of the triplet trio — fellow junior guard Ivy Wallen — who was the early conductor for UNA’s offense and led the Lions in scoring in the first half. For the Bisons, the scoring was evenly spread across the roster with all 10 players who entered the game posting at least...
by Erika Plunkett | Feb 3, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Injuries continued to plague the Lipscomb women’s basketball team in an 81-60 loss to the second-best team in the ASUN as part of a doubleheader against North Alabama. Sophomore guard Taylor Clark, who currently leads the team in scoring, was ruled out Friday with an undisclosed injury. On the flipside, junior guard Lauren Rau returned to the starting lineup after sitting out on Tuesday. Lipscomb coach Greg Brown said her “intensity” made an immediate impact in a strong first half for the Lady Bisons. The Lions’ (16-2, 7-1 ASUN) sophomore forward Brittany Panetti came into Saturday’s matchup boasting the highest points-per-game mark in the conference, but two early fouls put her on the bench and gave the Lady Bisons (2-19, 0-8 ASUN) early success. Despite UNA junior guard Emma Wallen’s 17 first-quarter points, including five three-pointers, Lipscomb was down by only six at the end of the first quarter. Entering the second quarter, the Lady Bisons went on a 10-1 run led by freshman guard Keely Morrow, who would finish as the Lady Bisons’ leading scorer with 11 points. Part of the second quarter success was fueled by Lipscomb’s points off turnovers, generating its first lead going into halftime since December. But coming back from halftime, the Lions finally got into rhythm, led by Panetti’s return to the game. The second quarter script was flipped, and it was the Lions who went on a scoring run. Wallen also made an impact after scoring zero points in the second quarter with her three-point shooting. She finished the day with a career-high 30 points and was 8-of-13 from behind the arc....
