by Spencer Boehme | Apr 4, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
On Saturday night, Lipscomb’s four seniors were just two consecutive FGCU points away from never seeing the NCAA tournament in their college careers. In the fifth set, FGCU’s Erin Shomaker gave the Eagles a 14-13 lead to set up match point. All the Eagles had to do was collect the next point, and that would have been ballgame. But then three of the Bisons’ seniors aided in a 3-0 run that ultimately gave the Bisons the win Saturday evening. Senior hitter Megan Kuper tied the game on kill, and senior blocker Sami Rubal assisted with a block after that. And then it was senior defensive specialist Ashley Maher who set the ball up for junior hitter Garret Joiner, who rocketed it past FGCU libero Dana Axner near the back endline for the game-winner. The ASUN named Rubal the tournament MVP, and Dilfer and senior libero Alyssa Zwolensky received All-Tournament team honors. It will be the eighth NCAA tournament appearance in Lipscomb history, all of which have come under 18-year head coach Brandon Rosenthal. Lipscomb first advanced to the tourney in 2007. The Bisons have won the ASUN championship seven times (they received an at-large bid in 2014). ESPNU will air the selection show at 3 p.m. CT. The Division I volleyball tournament will be played in Omaha, Nebraska. Rubal and Kuper led the way with 14 and 13 kills for Lipscomb, while Joiner followed up with 12. Freshman Delaney Dilfer once again had an impeccable evening setting the ball, as she accounted for 50 assists after garnering 53 the night before. For FGCU, the sophomore hitter Shomaker wreaked havoc...
by Erika Plunkett | Feb 20, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
On Tuesday night, the Lipscomb women’s basketball team fell to high-flying Florida Gulf Coast University 80-46 in Nashville. The struggles for the Lady Bisons (3-23, 1-12 ASUN) began before either team took the court. Due to a severe power outage on Lipscomb’s campus, the game was moved from the Lady Bisons’ home court in Allen Arena to a couple miles up the road at Belmont’s Curb Event Center. The Lady Bisons opened the game on a 5-0 run and held the advantage for much of the first quarter. In the first seven minutes, Lipscomb saw six different players record points. When asked about this early momentum, Lipscomb coach Greg Brown said he was not surprised. “It’s how we anticipated coming in,” Brown said. “We had good movement. I thought we mixed up our defense and took them out of rhythm, and we both played pretty well those first four or five minutes. It’s the ability to sustain.” And he was right. Lipscomb was unable to sustain its tempo, and the lead was short-lived, as the Eagles (22-4, 13-0 ASUN) answered with a 27-point run spanning the first and second quarters. Lipscomb’s scoring drought lasted for over 11 minutes until junior guard Anna Hammaker finally found the basket with just under two minutes left before halftime. Much of the Eagles’ success came from outside the arc, as they finished the night with 49 attempts from three-point range, surpassing Lipscomb’s total field goal attempts. FGCU converted on 15 of these attempts, led by junior forward Nasrin Ulel’s five threes. “There’s nothing they do that’s tricky,” Brown said. “They just cut really hard....
by Charlie Bateman | Jan 29, 2015 | Sports
The Lady Bisons winning streak ended at three as they fell to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 71-49 Thursday evening in Allen Arena. While it was a slow start for both teams, the Eagles held the Lady Bisons to 19 points in the first half. Neither team was able to score in the first five minutes of play. Lipscomb struggled to find holes in the Florida Gulf Coast defense. The Lady Bisons also struggled to free up Ashley Southern for layups down low. Even with Southern’s struggles, she still managed to lead Lipscomb with 12 points. Head Coach Greg Brown talked about the importance of having three players score in double figures. Brown said that freshman guard Emily Eubank played a dominant role in the game, scoring 11 points. “Emily had great poise and composure,” Brown said. “It was good for her, as a freshman, to handle one of the best teams in the league.” Junior shooting guard Alex Banks also scored in double figures, with 10 points. Banks was productive from the field as well as at the free throw line. She shot four for five from the field and was perfect from the foul line. The Eagles came into the game with only two losses and were considered to be the thirtieth best team in the country. Gulf Coast’s leading scorer was Whitney Knight, who scored 18 points. The Eagles also had a strong defensive during the second half, in which they only allowed 30 points. The Lady Bisons would have liked a better outcome, but Brown said the team can build off of what they learned. “We were close on rebounds,” Brown said. “We also...
by Aaron Schmelzer | Feb 28, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Allen Arena hosted another exciting game on Thursday night as the Bisons’ basketball team topped Florida Gulf Coast University 92-71 with the help of sharp 3-point shooting. From the tip-off, the Eagles of FGCU scored two points to lead 2-0, but the Bisons answered, scoring six straight three-pointers. From there, Lipscomb never looked back, leading by 20 at the half. Bisons head coach Casey Alexander said that the shooting helped lead the team to victory. “We shot the ball great the whole night, and making our first six was a huge lift for us…confidence wise, and we held the lead from there,” Alexander said. In the second half, the Bisons cooled off, but they stayed consistent and continued to be aggressive, take shots and most importantly, make the shots. In total, Lipscomb scored fifteen three’s, six from junior forward Martin Smith, one from senior guard/forward Khion Sankey, three from freshman guard Josh Williams and three from redshirt freshman guard J.C. Hampton. Martin Smith and Hampton tied for 21 points to lead the team. Junior forward Malcolm Smith and sophomore guard Talbott Denny also scored double digits with 20 points and 11, respectively. As good as the shooting was, Alexander said that the perimeter shooting was not necessarily part of the plan on Thursday. “We just took the shots that came to us,” Alexander said. “We didn’t come out here trying to shoot a lot of three’s; that wasn’t really part of the game plan.” FGCU responded to Lipscomb’s shooting, as junior guard Brett Comer lead the charge with 27 points. It was not enough, however. The Eagles, over the course of the game, turned...
by Hunter Patterson | Dec 9, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
Sophomore Robert Boyd (23) and junior Deonte Alexander (21) had career scoring highs for the Bisons in an 89-87 overtime loss to Tennessee Tech Saturday night at the Eblen Center in Cookeville. Lipscomb seemed to control the game after taking a 13-point first half lead and was up 38-30 at the break. Lipscomb shot 50 percent in the opening period but nearly half of Tennessee Tech’s points were off 12 Bison turnovers. Kevin Murphy, the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, and Jud Dillard started to swing the momentum in the Golden Eagle’s direction with several easy baskets throughout the opening part of the second half. Tennessee Tech went on an 18-6 run using five 3-pointers to take a 66-60 advantage with 7:33 to play. “I felt that one stretch in the second half we gave them some baskets in transition with no defense,” said head coach Scott Sanderson. “When we went zone, they stepped up and made some big shots.” Murphy finished with 29 points, all but five coming in the second half. Dillard had 22 points and made ten free throws. A pair of jumpers by Boyd brought Lipscomb to within one with 3:46 left. Tech would push the lead back to five points before the Bisons countered with triples by Alexander and Boyd to give Lipscomb the 74-73 lead with 1:25 to play. Two free throws and a layup would put Tennessee Tech back on top by three with under thirty seconds remaining. Boyd nailed a 3-pointer from the corner in front of Lipscomb’s bench with 14.8 seconds left to tie the game at 77...
