Final Score: Lipscomb: 86, Evansville: 79
Location: Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena)
Records: Lipscomb: 6-1, Evansville: 2-3
THE SHORT STORY
Molly Heard's career-high 32 points led Lipscomb Women's Basketball to its sixth-straight victory with an 86-79 decision over Evansville on Saturday afternoon. The Bisons continued to improve on its best start in program history in the Division I era.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lipscomb got out to a hot start, taking an early 5-0 lead, but Evansville bounced back with six-unanswered to keep the Bisons from pulling away.
Just before the first media timeout,
Jalyn Holcomb drained a wide-open triple and the Bisons held a 10-8 advantage at the break.
The Bisons and Purple Aces continued to trade blows out of the timeout, but Evansville took its first lead since the opening minutes when a traditional three-point play gave it an 18-17 advantage. With no baskets in the final 1:19 of the frame, the score held at the end of the first quarter.
Evansville continued to shoot at a high clip while the Bisons struggled to get the shots to fall to start the second quarter. However, the Bisons hit back-to-back triples from
Bella Vinson and Heard to retake a 28-25 advantage.
Neither team would back down as they continued to trade buckets for the next minutes. At the second quarter media timeout, the Bisons held a 31-30 advantage.
At the halftime buzzer, Evansville led Lipscomb 38-36. The Bisons were able to hang with the Purple Aces despite being outshot 54-percent to 37-percent from the floor.
The third quarter started out disjointed with neither team getting in an offensive rhythm. The Bisons, however, were able to claw back out to a 46-42 advantage at the third quarter media timeout.
Out of the break, the Bisons picked up the pressure offensively, but still struggled to stop the Evansville offense.
Jalyn Holcomb, however, took a hard cut to the basket for the final bucket of the third quarter as the Bisons led 62-56.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Lipscomb outscored Evansville 10-6 to get out to a 72-62 lead and force a Purple Aces timeout.
At the final media timeout of the game, Lipscomb continued to hold onto a 77-68 advantage.
Lipscomb led 81-72 with just under two minutes to play, but Evansville forced a pair of turnovers that cut the Bisons' lead 81-76 with just over a minute to play in the game. Heard got the Bisons back on the board with a free throw that put her at the 30-point mark for the game.
With 26.1 ticks left on the clock,
Claira McGowan drained a pair of free throws for an 84-76 Lipscomb advantage. Evansville called a timeout to get set and nailed a triple with 19.1 left, making the score 84-79 Lipscomb.
Heard was fouled and made both foul shots, pushing the Bisons out 86-79. Lipscomb saw out the final seconds and took the 86-79 victory, continuing its six-game winning streak and best start to a season in the program's Division I era.
HERD NOTES
- Heard scored a career-high 32 points and added seven rebounds.
- Vinson also had a season-high 17 points. Other double-digit scorers included McGowan (11) and Holcomb (13).
- Ainhoa Cea led the squad with nine rebounds and six assists.
- The Bisons shot 46-percent from the floor and 32-percent from deep.
FROM THE BENCH
UP NEXT
The Bisons will hit the road to play at Chattanooga on Monday, Nov. 25 at 10 a.m. CT.
