NASHVILLE – Claira McGowan scored 18 points and snagged seven rebounds as Lipscomb women's hoops (8-6, 1-0 ASUN) opened ASUN play with a 64-59 win over Eastern Kentucky (11-4, 0-1 ASUN) Thursday night inside Allen Arena.
Aleah Sorrentino and Bella Vinson also scored double-digits for the Bisons, as Sorrentino logged 16 on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with five rebounds, and Vinson went for 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and five boards.
Blythe Pearson impacted the game in several ways for the Bisons Thursday night. Pearson had logged five points, seven rebounds, and a team-high four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Bisons played outstanding defense in the first quarter, holding the Colonels without a point until the 4:47 mark of the opening quarter. EKU connected on the second of two free throws to get on the board (6-1).
In the first ten minutes of action, the Bisons held EKU to 3-of-16 shooting from the floor and to seven points total, leading to a 13-7 edge entering the second period.
The Colonels started to convert on the offensive end in the second quarter, fighting back to take their first lead on two free throws with 3:34 remaining before the half. Lipscomb answered to close out the second quarter, ending the final 1:44 on a 6-0 run.
The Bisons were able to draw fouls and get to the line to close out the quarter. All six of the Bisons' points during the spurt came from the charity stripe, four from McGowan and a pair from Sorrentino.
Lipscomb took a four-point lead, 31-27, into the break, led in scoring by Sorrentino and Vinson, who each logged eight points during their time on the floor in the first half.
Both teams leaned on their offensive production in the third quarter. Lipscomb scored 20 points in the frame, their highest quarter output of the contest, led by McGowan, who put up seven on 3-of-5 shooting.
An 11-5 run at the beginning of the third gave Lipscomb their largest lead of 10 with 5:15 remaining in the first period of the second half.
EKU managed to cut their deficit to five, but a McGowan second-chance three-pointer and then a Colonels layup as time expired gave Lipscomb a six-point edge going into the final ten minutes.
After hitting just one three-pointer in the first half, the Bisons went 4-of-6 from deep in the third and 8-of-15 overall from the floor.
The Colonels didn't go away quietly, quickly cutting a Bisons' lead to one with a five-point swing at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Lipscomb executed their offensive sets down the stretch, going 5-of-11 on shots in the fourth and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Ten of the team's 13 points in the final period game in the painted area.
As a result, the Bisons opened conference play with a 64-59 win over EKU, winning their second straight game at home and second straight overall.
HERD NOTES:
- Claira McGowan reached 500 career points against the Colonels, the second player this season to do so.
- Three Bisons reached double figures for the 10th time this season.
- Lipscomb shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the floor against EKU and 41.7 percent from three-point range (5-of-12).
- The Bisons logged 40 rebounds, out-rebounding the Colonels by five.
- Lipscomb went 13-of-18 from the free throw line, with McGowan responsible for nine makes.
- The Bisons improved to 3-4 against the Colonels all-time and 2-2 under Coach Lauren Sumski.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH COACH SUMSKI AND CLAIRA MCGOWAN:
UP NEXT:
Lipscomb will return to action on Jan. 6 at home against Bellarmine at 2 p.m. CT. 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.
