West Pennyroyal News

WKU Defeated By Hot Shooting Lipscomb

WKU women's basketball struggled early against Lipscomb on Tuesday night and was unable to recover, falling to the Bison, 84-66.
 
"Seven turnovers tonight, which is a 20-turnover reduction from the road trip," said head coach Greg Collins. "Right now, the bottom line is we're not playing well. We're not playing well offensively – we're missing a lot of shots. This is the third game we've gotten more field goal attempts than our opponent and made fewer shots. They were 13-for-22 from the 3-point line and we were 5-for-27. We're just missing a lot of shots. I think we're hurried, we're a little bit rushed and not settled. I have to do a better job of getting them to calm down and keep moving the ball until we get that comfortable shot."
 
Acacia Hayes was WKU's leading scorer with a career high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. Three other Lady Toppers joined Hayes in double figures. Jaylin Foster had 11 points and Josie Gilvin and Hope Sivori added 10.
 
On the boards, Foster, Aaliyah Pitts and Macey Blevins led the team with five each. Foster also had four assists to lead the team and Gilvin had a team-leading three steals.
 
Lipscomb shot 59.1 percent from 3-point range on the night, connecting on 13 3-pointers. From the field, the Bison shot 59.6 percent. On the other side, WKU shot just 18.5 percent from three (5-of-27) and 37.1 percent from the field (23-of-62).
 
"They're hitting threes and we're coming down and hitting twos, you can't keep going back and forth like that," said Hayes. "At some point, we have to knock down those 3-pointers."
 
Lipscomb started the game on a hot streak, making its first seven shots from the floor, including the first three 3-point attempts. The two teams went back-and-forth, but where Lipscomb was able to connect on five threes in the first quarter and WKU failed to make a three. The Bison took a 27-15 lead into the second quarter.
 
The second frame was dead even with both teams scoring 23 points in the period. At the 3:40 mark, Lipscomb took its largest lead at 43-20, but WKU outscored the Bison 18-7 from that point on to bring the score to 50-38 at halftime.
 
The Lady Toppers had their worst offensive quarter in the third, shooting just 15.8 percent from the field, making 3-of-19 shots from the floor. Lipscomb was able to add to the lead, outscoring WKU 20-11 in the frame.
 
WKU had the advantage in the fourth quarter, putting up 17 points to Lipscomb's 14. After making just two 3-pointers the first three quarters, the Lady Toppers hit three in the fourth quarter.
 
"I think we just have so many good players and we have to learn how to build that connection and do a better job of defending the other team," said Foster. "Knowing they're hitting that much, we have to play solid defense without fouling."
 
The Lady Toppers will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 2 at Ball State at 5:30 p.m. (CT). 

Original source can be found here.