RICHMOND, Kentucky – The Lipscomb women’s basketball team lost handily to the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 77-41 at McBrayer Arena Wednesday night.
No one managed double-digits for the Bisons, who scored a combined 9 points in the 1st and 4th quarters alone.
Despite a stifling EKU defense and a frustrating night from the floor, as Lipscomb shot just 14-55 on field goals, graduate Sydney Shelton and sophomore Blythe Pearson each scored 9 for Lipscomb.
Shelton, a Butler transfer from Greenfield, Indiana, went 3-5 on 3-point shots but only made 3-8 from the floor. Pearson shot 4-11 on field goals and added 5 rebounds.
Without senior center Dorie Harrison, Lipscomb was outrebounded 46-26 and outscored 22-10 in the paint. Lipscomb’s forwards and center combined for 3 rebounds total, 2 of which came from San Antonio, Texas-born Nicole Hemphill.
A difficult first half put Lipscomb against the current from the onset, as EKU made 4 of their first 6 from downtown and built a 12-point lead at the first media break.
“[We give EKU] a lot of credit,” assistant coach Chris Sumski said. “They definitely came out hungry. They played really hard on the defensive end, they crashed the boards hard like they always do, and they also made more shots than they normally do.”
Lipscomb missed their first 7 3-point attempts and only managed 6 points in the first quarter, taking a 14-point deficit into the second quarter at 20-6 behind 11 points from EKU forward Jayla Johnson.
“I think we let their length affect us a little bit,” Sumski said, “in terms of our confidence in finishing at the rim once we got in the paint. I think we kinda second-guessed ourselves a little bit. Even our shots, they were more open than we thought they were.”
EKU cruised to 20 more points in the second quarter to take a 40-22 lead into halftime, led by Johnson’s 15 first-half points.
The second half went similarly, with EKU improving their lead to 63-38 at the end of the third and to 77-41 behind a stifling fourth quarter defensively.
Junior transfer Maddie Cook brought down a team-leading 7 rebounds for Lipscomb but only managed 2 points. Second-year freshman guard Jordan Peete was held scoreless for only the second time this season on 0-4 shooting, all 3-point attempts.
The Bisons fall to 0-2 against EKU in the all-time series, with the only previous matchup coming in 2002 as a non-conference win in Nashville for the Colonels.
Lipscomb falls to 7-10 after the loss, with a 2-2 ASUN record. Eastern Kentucky advances to 10-8 on the year with a 3-2 ASUN record in their opening year in the conference.
The Bisons host Kennesaw State next Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at Allen Arena. The game will be broadcast live on The Bison, Lipscomb’s on-campus radio station.
“Right now, we have to just give [the players] a chance to get home and refresh and take a break,” Sumski said. “They’ve been through a lot, so we need them to get rested mentally and physically and then we’ll get back to it on Friday and start preparing for a really good KSU team.”
Photo courtesy of EKU Athletics