NASHVILLE – Women's basketball dropped their second straight contest at home as Stetson (10-11, 5-2 ASUN) ran away from the Bisons (12-9, 4-3 ASUN) down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

Two free throws from Blythe Pearson cut the lead down to six with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter, but the Hatters responded with a six-point run, which pushed their lead to double-digits, resulting in a 67-55 loss inside Allen Arena. 

Bella Vinson was the Bisons' leading scorer Saturday afternoon, scoring a conference-high 17 points, including three three-pointers. Blythe Pearson had 13 points to go along with seven boards, and Claira McGowan scored 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting, with four rebounds. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Lipscomb was able to fight through a poor shooting performance in the first half and still managed to keep themselves in contention but runs by the Hatters at the end of each of the first and second quarters helped them cling to a five-point lead after one and a nine-point lead going into the halftime break.

The Bisons shot 27 percent from the floor and only scored 21 points, the second-lowest scoring total of any first half this season. Meanwhile, Stetson shot the ball at a 44 percent clip in the opening half, resulting in a 30-21 halftime score, with the visiting Hatters out in front.

Lipscomb slowly began to chip away at their deficit in the third frame. A Vinson layup with 3:42 left in the third quarter cut the Hatters' lead down to just two, then, a few possessions later, McGowan began what ended up being an eight-point scoring run of her own to give the Bisons a two-point edge and their first advantage since the 4:37 mark of the first period.

McGowan connected on back-to-back triples and then two free throws, which put the Bisons up 38-36 with 1:01 left in the third. Stetson's guard and former Bison, Jordan Peete, converted on both of her free throw attempts on their next possession to even the score at 38-all going into the fourth and final frame.

Stetson opened the fourth on a 9-2 scoring run and managed to keep the lead for the rest of the contest, putting up a game-high 29 points during the last ten minutes. The Hatters went up by as much as 13 with 55 seconds remaining after holding off several comeback attempts from the Bisons down the stretch, eventually handing the Bisons a 67-55 loss on their home court, their third conference loss of the season. 

HERD NOTES:

• After shooting over 40 percent in each of the last three games, the Bisons shot 30 percent from the floor against the Hatters.
• Lipscomb lost the war on the boards for the second straight outing, getting out-rebounded 42-38 and falling to 1-9 on the season when being out-rebounded. 
• The Bisons were outscored down low 32-22 and gave up 14 fast break points.
• Lipscomb falls to 12-28 during the Division-I era against the Hatters. 
• Blythe Pearson reached double figures for the fifth game in conference play and hit a three-pointer for the 10th straight contest. 

UP NEXT: 

Lipscomb will undergo a three-game road stretch starting with their first-ever trip to Curry Arena in Charlotte, N.C., to take on Queens (N.C.). Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Feb. 1. The matchup will be streamed on ESPN+. Continue to check lipscombsports.com and the team's social media accounts (@lipscombwbb on IG and @lipscomb_wbb on X) for the most up-to-date information on Lipscomb women's basketball.