NASHVILLE – Taylor Bowen scored 10 points and brought down 13 rebounds in her first career start to help catapult Lipscomb women's basketball to a 67-53 victory over North Alabama (11-16, 7-7 ASUN), their second win against the Lions this season. The win extended their win streak to six straight over North Alabama and gave Lipscomb their 15th win of the season. 

Aleah Sorrentino led the scoring effort for the Bisons and continued her dominant play against North Alabama with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting against the Lions. Molly Heard reached double-figures for the fourth consecutive game, scoring 12 points while bringing down eight rebounds. Claira McGowan filled the stat sheet up Thursday night, scoring seven points with a career-high 12 rebounds and four assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Bisons outscored North Alabama 12-2 in the first five minutes. An Olivia Vandergriff three-pointer gave the Bisons their early 10-point advantage, forcing a Lions timeout with just under five minutes go by. 

North Alabama responded with two three-pointers out of the timeout to cut the lead down to four with 3:06 to go, but a Pearson layup sparked a 7-2 run to close the quarter as Lipscomb took a 19-10 lead into the second quarter. 

Lipscomb kept their foot on the gas in the first half of the second quarter, taking as much as a 16-point advantage, starting the frame on a 10-3 run. The Bisons got their lead up to 18 at the half as Sorrentino buried a face-up jumper from the free throw line to give them a 39-21 lead at the break.

North Alabama went on a short scoring run to cut their deficit down to 13 with 4:58 left in the third quarter, but Lipscomb answered again, taking another 18-point advantage into the final quarter of action. 

Another three-pointer from Vandergriff, her second triple of the night, gave the Bisons their largest lead at 23 halfway through the fourth quarter. 

The Lions made things interesting in the fourth, going on a 13-0 run to bring them back within 10 points, but that was as close as North Alabama could get as Lipscomb held serve for the final three minutes of action, holding the Lions scoreless in the last two minutes. 

Molly Heard connected on two free throws, and Bowen found a wide-open Sorrentino under the basket after breaking a full-court press to give Lipscomb the 67-53 win over North Alabama Thursday night. 

HERD NOTES

• Lipscomb women's basketball won its sixth consecutive game over North Alabama and their second of the season. 
• The Bisons shot just under 40 percent (39.3%) from the floor tonight. 
• The Bisons hit eight threes and held a good three-point shooting Lions squad to six makes on the night. 
• Lipscomb won the war on the boards 55-38, with two players snagging 10+ rebounds. Fifty-five rebounds is the most in any game for the Bisons this season and tied for the most in a single game in program history. 
• The Bisons held North Alabama to their second-lowest scoring total in conference play. 
• Coach Sumski is now one win away from 100 for her career. 

POSTGAME WITH TAYLOR BOWEN AND LAUREN SUMSKI

Postgame reaction from our Player of the Game @taylor5bowen and Head Coach Lauren Sumski ??

?? https://t.co/iCjyGZqRgn#IntoTheStorm ?? | #HornsUp ??

— Lipscomb Women's Basketball (@LipscombWBB) February 23, 2024

UP NEXT
Lipscomb will take on Central Arkansas on Senior Day Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT streaming 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.