Final Score: Lipscomb: 53, JSU: 62
Location: Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena)
Records: Lipscomb: 8-18 (3-10, ASUN), Jacksonville State: 19-6 (10-3, ASUN)
THE SHORT STORY: Lipscomb dropped its eighth straight ASUN contest, falling to Jacksonville State 62-53 Thursday evening in Allen Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The first several minutes of action happened at a furious pace as both teams were shooting over 50 percent from the floor. In her first career start, Nichole Hemphill came out of the gate strong, going on a 5-0 run herself to give Lipscomb a 9-6 lead.
The high-octane offense continued from both sides as the teams traded buckets for a 13-13 game with 3:10 left in the first period.
Out of the media timeout, the Gamecocks went on a 5-0 run to push out to the largest lead of the night for either team, 18-13.
Bella Vinson put an emphatic stop to the Jacksonville State run with a deep three pointer at the top of the arc to put Lipscomb back within a possession. The basket would be the last of the quarter as Lipscomb narrowly trailed 18-16 at the end of the first quarter.
Jacksonville State opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run to jump out to an eight-point lead, but
Maddie Cook quickly shaved the lead back down to a pair of possessions with back-to-back buckets on the Lipscomb offensive end.
The offense on both sides slowed dramatically for the final five minutes of the second quarter with JSU going without a field goal for the final 5:21. The Gamecocks were able to hold onto a slim lead however, going into the locker room at a 28-22 advantage.
The Bisons got off to a hot start in the second half with back-to-back triples by
Casey Collier and
Blythe Pearson tied things at 28 a piece with 8:27 left in the third quarter. A foul and untimely turnover on the inbounds gave Jacksonville State a quick five-point advantage over the next minute for a 33-28 advantage, but
Jalyn Holcomb broke Lipscomb out of a 2:30 scoring drought with a nice move in the paint for another bucket to put Lipscomb back within a possession.
Lipscomb cut Jacksonville State's lead to a point, but a 10-0 Gamecocks run to close out the third quarter put the Bisons at a 46-35 deficit at the end of the third quarter.
The Gamecocks were able to keep its lead in double digits until the 5:34 mark of the fourth quarter when
Sydney Shelton drilled a long range three-pointer to make it a 49-41 Jacksonville State advantage.
The Gamecocks got back out to an 11-point advantage, but a 6-0 Lipscomb run over 30 seconds found the Bisons back within five points, 49-41, as Shelton connected on another big three-pointer with 3:10 left in the game.
Lipscomb kept pace with JSU in the final minutes of the game, but the Gamecocks converted from the charity stripe down the stretch as Lipscomb dropped its eighth-straight 62-53.
HERD NOTES
- Collier was Lipscomb's leading scorer with 12 points. She added seven rebounds and three assists.
- Shelton was also in double-digits with 10 points off the bench.
UP NEXT
Lipscomb will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 19 at North Alabama. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT at Flowers Arena.
