The Lipscomb women’s basketball team dominated Division III LaGrange by a 77-45 scoreline Wednesday morning at Allen Arena.
The game welcomed lower school students between kindergarten and 2nd grade from Lipscomb Academy, who took a field trip down Granny White Pike to watch the Bisons play.
“That was fun,” assistant coach Chris Sumski said. “It meant a lot. Even [head coach] Lauren [Sumski] got a little bit emotional at the beginning of the game with the kids cheering. Our kids really enjoyed that, we’re really thankful to them today.”
With hundreds of Academy students cheering them on, the Bisons left no room for doubt about the result. Lipscomb scored the first ten points, 5 of which came from junior forward Maddie Cook, and they never looked back.
Cook, a Belmont transfer led the team in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with 13 on 6-8 shooting from the floor.
A combination of balanced offense and stifling defense led the Bisons to full control on the scoreboard and on the court, giving them a 19-4 advantage after one period.
The second quarter continued in the same vein, leading the home side to a 41-15 advantage at the midway point. Lipscomb owned the paint over the course of the half, outscoring LaGrange 26-2 and racking up 5 blocks.
Senior center Dorie Harrison was responsible for 3 of those blocks and ended with 4. She added 13 points and 4 rebounds to that tally.
“Our plan is to play our best basketball every time we step on the court,” Harrison said. “We were just having fun. Everybody was hyping each other up, so the energy was great.”
The second half was a similar story, as the Bisons outscored LaGrange 36-30 in the 3rd and 4th quarters to take home the win.
Five players scored in double figures on the day, as Jordan Peete, Casey Collier, and Bella Vinson joined Cook and Harrison with 10 apiece.
“[Balance] is the big thing we’ve really been trying to emphasize in practice,” Sumski said. “We feel like one of our big struggles has been that we’re taking the first available shot in games instead of working to get to a great shot, and they showed a lot of improvement in that area today.”
Lipscomb shot 31-65 from the floor for a 48% mark, above their season average, despite missing sophomore wing Jalyn Holcomb for the third straight game due to injury.
“We miss Jalyn; there’ll never be another Jalyn,” Harrison said. “We’re wishing her a full recovery.”
In the meantime, the Nashville-born center found out she could shoot the 3-ball as well, knocking down a 4th quarter effort for her first 3-point basket of the season.
“I was ready, and I just knew I was going to make it. That’s just something I can do to extend my game, too. The more versatile we are, the more dangerous we are, so we love it,” Harrison said.
With the win, Lipscomb improves to 3-5 on the year and LaGrange drops to 4-5. Lipscomb also breaks a 2-game losing streak and grabs their 13th win of the last 14 at home.
The Bisons are next in action when they open a doubleheader 1:30 PM Sunday against Tennessee Wesleyan at Allen Arena. That match will be broadcast live on The Bison, Lipscomb’s on-campus radio station.