Special Olympians embraced by Lipscomb ‘family’

Special Olympians embraced by Lipscomb ‘family’

It was a dark and rainy day on campus, but smiles and cheers lit up Allen Arena during the Special Olympics State Basketball Tournament Friday evening. The basketball games that continued into Saturday night marked Lipscomb’s 11th year of hosting the tournament. The special bond between Lipscomb athletes and the Special Olympics athletes make the teaming of the tournament and the university a natural fit. “There is a competitive rivalry, but there is also much more support of fellow athletes no matter what team they’re on,” said Lin Garner, Lipscomb’s Associate Athletic Director for Academics. A spotlight was put on the athletic camaraderie at the opening ceremonies, where Lipscomb athletes joined the Special Olympics athletes to cheer them on before they stepped on court. Terry Watkins, Special Olympics Director for Area 1 Nashville, said that in that short time of fellowship, the Special Olympics athletes made connections with the college athletes. “Love is love,” Watkins said. “You can love a sport, whether you’re really good at it or not. “College athletes are generally good at sports. There are some of our [athletes] that may not be, but they still have that love — that common love of sports that comes together when we do things like this.” Watkins, who also teaches Special Education at Nashville’s Glencliff High School, is a veteran of three decades as a Special Olympics coach. He said he loves what he sees on the court, but wishes more would would take the time to cheer in the stands. “Most of our [coaches’] job is encouragement — building on the good things — and when the fans cheer, that...

Lady Bisons lose in close matchup against Stetson

The Lady Bisons lost to the Stetson Hatters 82-77 this Saturday in Allen Arena. The pace set by Stetson proved too much for the Lady Bisons. The Hatters led the entire game, never letting up their energy and intensity. Junior Danay Fothergill led the Bisons, scoring 24 points. Fothergill sunk a total of five threes in the far corners of the court. She also made seven out of eight points from free throws. Lipscomb head coach Greg Brown encouraged smart fouls, but Stetson took advantage by making 83 percent of their free throws in the first half. With seven minutes remaining in the first half, Lipscomb was revived by a technical foul against freshman Emily Eubank. After Eubank made one for two, Fothergill and sophomore Chandler Cooper made threes and brought the score to 23-20. The ladies almost closed the gap by halftime, with a score of 35-33. The beginning of the second half resembled the beginning of the first half. Despite Fothergill’s confidence in her free throws, Lipscomb continued to fall behind. With 11 minutes left, Stetson was back up 64-48. Lipscomb pushed back in the last four minutes to bring the score up to 74-67. Junior Ashley Southern contributed 17 points to Lipscomb’s total. The Bisons pushed to the very last second. The game ended with multiple fouls, but Lipscomb failed to come back and take the victory. The Lady Bisons are headed to Northern Kentucky for a matchup with the Norse on Saturday, Feb. 7. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Lady Bisons earn first conference win of the season

The Lady Bisons earned their first conference win over Kennesaw State 79-61 Saturday in Allen Arena. Junior Ashley Southern posted a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Danay Fothergill followed with 18 points. Sophomore Chandler Cooper added 16 points. Lipscomb led 35-26 at halftime and never looked back. The Lady Bisons maintained the lead the entire second half. Southern scored 16 of her 26 in the second half. The Lady Bisons created 17 points off of Kennesaw State turnovers. The coaches were very pleased with how Lipscomb responded to the game plan put into place. “We put in the game plan to get the ball to Ashley [Southern] in the paint,” assistant coach Courtney Locke said. “Our girls did a great job of executing that game plan, as well as the game plan on the defensive end.” Kennesaw State’s Deandrea Sawyers scored 24 and grabbed nine rebounds. Kennesaw State fell to 13-5 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic Sun. Lipscomb improved to 6-11 overall and 1-2 in the A-Sun. The Lady Bisons will travel to Florida for a matchup against Jacksonville on Jan. 22. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Bisons split opening day of Atlantic Sun Conference play

After a full day of basketball in Allen Arena Saturday, the Lady Bisons finished with a loss to Northern Kentucky while the men dominated the Norse on the opening day of conference play. The Lady Bisons put up a strong fight throughout the first half against a quick-paced Lady Norse team, but the two teams remained close in scoring until the end of the first half which left Lipscomb trailing by fourteen points. Head coach Greg Brown rejuvenated the team during the break.  He stated later that he did not fault their energy at all, and the team did a great job of keeping their spirits up and imitating their routines from practice. Despite the needed break, the second half proved to be too much for the women.  In the final 20 minutes of the game, the Lady Bisons worked their way back and cut the lead to eight points; however, they struggled to completely close the deficit. “We held the ball a little bit too much on offense,” Brown said. Junior Danay Fothergill and redshirt sophomore Chandler Cooper revived their team with multiple points off of steals on defense and strong offensive plays.  Fothergill was the leading scorer with 21 points. Ultimately, the Lady Bisons could not pull out the win they desired going into the first conference game. The Lady Norse came away with the 81-70 victory. “I thought we played very tough, but we have to be able to put toughness and intensity and technique together for forty minutes,” Brown said. The men’s game, however, had a very different ending. The Bisons were determined from the beginning to bring Lipscomb...

Lady Bisons finish 0-2 at Georgia Tech Holiday Tournament

The Christmas break gave the Lady Bison basketball team a chance to get some rest, but the team still came up short in the Georgia Tech Holiday Tournament. The Lady Bisons travelled down to Atlanta where they first played the host, Georgia Tech on Dec. 29. After the first half of the game, the Lady Bisons were only down by 11 points; however, in the second half Georgia Tech scored 32 points to come away with the 71-53 win. Ashley Southern had her 26th career double-double and fourth of the year. The Lady Bisons were perfect from the free throw line, but only shot one free throw the entire game. Georgia Tech was 42.9 percent from the field while Lipscomb was just 36.2 percent. Just a day after the loss to Georgia Tech, the Lady Bisons had to refocus and prepare to play Harvard on Dec. 30. The game against Harvard was different than the game against the Yellow Jackets. The Lady Bisons did not come out as strong in the first half. The team allowed Harvard to get ahead 41-22 in the first half before finally losing 84-63. The Lady Bisons were neck-in-neck with Harvard in terms of scoring in the second half. Lipscomb scored 41 points to Harvard’s 43. Despite the loss, the Lady Bisons had four players score in double figures. Chandler Cooper and Ashley Southern each had 14 points, Sara Bliss had 11 points and Danay Fothergill had 10. By the end of the game the Lady Bisons were shooting 42.1 percent from the field to Harvard’s 45.2 percent. The Lady Bisons come home to...