JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Lipscomb women’s basketball team were unable to continue their winning streak on Monday night as the Lady Bisons fell 76-53 to Jacksonville in Swisher Gymnasium. 

“Tonight, I thought we let pressure and physicality get to us,” Lipscomb women’s basketball head coach Lauren Sumski. “On top of that, we let our offense dictate the defensive end.

"We did a pretty good job taking care of the ball, but I think we got really sped up and obviously didn’t really settle into the ball game until the second half.”

The game was close after the first period, in which the Dolphins outscored Lipscomb 19-13. But the second quarter broke things open as JU took a 31-5 run into the halftime break. 

“We definitely made some defensive errors that allowed them to get going in that second quarter, and they got really hot,” Sumski said. “At the same time, it seemed like we couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean. When those things happen, we have to do a better job of just locking in and staying poised on both ends.”

The Lady Bisons outscored Jacksonville 35-26 during the second half, but the Dolphins first-half lead ended up being too much to overcome. 

“We dug ourselves in a pretty deep hole in that second quarter, but I was proud of the fight we showed in the second half,” Sumski said. “That’s one of those games where we wish we had another half, and we can scratch the first one.”

Junior Taylor Clark led the team in scoring with 15 points on 6-8 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. She also had three rebounds and one steal.

Senior Carleigh Short scored 11 points and dished out a team-high five assists.

Freshman Casey Collier collected 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and one block. 

Lipscomb falls to 7-21 (4-11) with the loss, while JU improves to 17-10 (9-5). 

“Nevertheless, we will definitely use this as a learning experience and build on it to be better,” Sumski said. “We are thankful to know there is some basketball left to be played, so we just have to let this go and move on to the next one.”

HERD NOTES:

• Three Dolphins scored in double-figures: Shakayla Nevitt (20), Mariah Batz (17), and Shalonda Neely (13). 
• Lipscomb shot 16-20 from the free throw line, as compared to JU’s 3-9 mark. 
• Freshman Blythe Pearson grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go along with six points. 
• All eight Lady Bisons to enter the game played double-digit minutes. Short logged the most with 39 minutes played. 
• JU out-rebounded Lipscomb 41-27 and had a 13-9 assists advantage. 

UP NEXT: Lipscomb will close out the regular season on Saturday against Liberty. Tip is set for 3:30 p.m. and Senior Day festivities will take place prior to the game.