Battle ends in defeat
Women's Battle of the Boulevard - a close game but a sad end
The Bisons were ready. They had a chance to take the Battle of the Boulevard win from the Belmont Bruins. And if they did, they would have beaten the Bruins in both men's and women's basketball, a miraculous year.
The Bruins were ready too. They were not about to let the Bisons embarrass them again. The stage was set. The Battle was about to begin.
Unlike the men's battle, the stands were not quite so packed, but the Lipscomb fans who were in attendance were loud. Lipscomb students proudly wore white. The Bruins defiantly wore red and grey.
The energy was palpable in the arena, bolstered by the tension of the game. Thanks to the home-court advantage, and strong Bison pride, the Bison students outnumbered the Bruins fans, although not by much.
The Bisons starting lineup featured Guards Blythe Pearson, Bella Vinson, Jalyn Holcomb, and Ainhoa Cea, and Forward Aleah Sorrentino. It was a strong lineup with a good set of skills on the court.
The Bruins put Sydni Harvey, Destinee Wells, Kilyn McGuff, and Nikki Baird at guard and Tessa Miller at forward for their starting lineup.
Belmont took the tip-off, but their first shot missed. Lipscomb took the ball and powered down the court with it. Cea passed it across the lower defensive box to Pearson, who put it up. With that, Lipscomb was on the board, 2-0, taking the first score of the night. So far, things were looking good.
Shortly after this, Bruins' Harvey scored, taking the score to 2-2. Outside of two free throws made by Wells, the Bruins would not score again for another three minutes, when McGuff put up a layup. During that time, the Bisons would score five times. Vinson even scored despite getting smacked in the face while making her layup.
Midway through the first quarter, however, the Bisons defense began to slip. They managed to bring it back up, but the score was beginning to waver, going from 12-4 in the Bisons favor to tied 12-12. It continued to waver, going from 16-12 in the Bisons' favor to the Bruins being up 17-18 by the end of the first quarter.
Cea, Pearson, Sorrentino, Molly Heard, and Claira McGowan started the second quarter for the Bisons. Heard started the quarter strong, sinking a three-pointer and taking the score to 20-18.
The score rose, playing catch-up back and forth, rising to 20-20, then 20-22, then 22-22. It continued, Belmont scoring and taking it to 22-24, but Lipscomb scored again, pulling it up to tied again at 24.
After that though, the game began to take a nose dive, starting with a Belmont free throw that raised the score by one point... and ending the second quarter with the score 26-35 in Belmont's favor.
Kamil Collier coming in for the Bisons during the second quarter gave them a little respite, bringing fresh energy - and a lot of volume - to the court. But several slip-ups throughout the last few minutes of the quarter led to almost a ten point lead for the Bruins. Worst among these was allowing the Bruins a clear path to the net to score in the last six seconds of the quarter.
Halftime passed quickly with the Social Club Shootout, with Carter Hiddleston winning for Sigma Ioda Delta.
The third quarter saw Cea, Sorrentino, Vinson, Pearson, and Holcomb out on the court at the start. Belmont had the ball, and sank a three pointer a mere fifteen seconds into the quarter.
Sorrentino quickly countered with a two-point jump shot, but the score was still in Belmont's favor, 28-38.
In the next five minutes of the game, Sorrentino sank two more jump shots. Holcomb made one three pointer and one layup, and Heard made another layup. These took the score to 41-45, and though Belmont was still in the lead, the game was getting closer.
Cea shone during the second half of the third quarter, not only killing it on defense but on offense as well. She took one defensive rebound, and had some fantastic defensive moves that threw Belmont off their tack. The most fantastic move seen from her during the third quarter, however, was an offensive one that led to her adding two points to the Bisons' score.
She took the ball straight to the paint, and dribbled in ever smaller circles under the net - using the most of her 5'6" stature - until the Belmont defender was confused. After the Belmont defender was too disoriented to keep on her, Cea put up a jump shot and made it. The student section erupted, and proud cries from some of the boys could be heard. Later in the game, cheers for Cea to do her "circles" again were shouted.
The action continued through to the end of the third quarter, and on into the fourth.
Both teams were taking shots and making them, taking shots and missing them, and the crowd was on the edge of their seats.
Many in the crowd knew a lot about basketball, and were engrossed in the game, adding to the audience experience. Thanks to the knowledge of many in the seats, there was practically a running commentary throughout the game.
There were people sitting in the audience who helped at the girls' practices, who were protective of the girls. There were students who either played basketball in college or who had played in high school who were watching every move made with knowledgeable eyes. There were students who had coached or managed basketball, or still did so, who were analyzing every aspect of the game.
Many of the calls from the refs were either poor or biased, and this caused outrage among the crowd. There were multiple Belmont fouls that the refs turned a blind eye to, and multiple fouls called on Lipscomb that were more or less made up.
The basketball-knowledgeable Lipscomb side of the crowd was beside themselves. "Ref, where are your eyes?!" and other such comments were shouted when a ref would miss an obvious Belmont foul. When a Belmont player fouled one of the Bisons and hurt them, one of the boys could be heard yelling protectively, "Don't you dare touch her again! Do something like that again and I'm coming down on that court myself! Don't you dare hurt her!!"
The second half of the fourth quarter was incredibly stressful. Emotions were running high among all the players, and among the crowd.
With seven minutes left on the game clock, there was only a seven point difference in the score.
Down to six minutes left, with a six point score difference. Holcomb made a free throw, taking the score to a five point diffrence, still with six minutes left in the game.
Vinson took two free throws and made both of them, taking the game to only three points apart, with five minutes and ten seconds left in the game. Belmont was still in the lead, but Lipscomb was closing in.
However, this would not last. Two free throws followed by a two pointer layup took the score to 55-62, Belmont's favor, with four minutes and twenty seconds left in the game.
Lipscomb seemed to, for the moment, have lost their ability to shoot - sending the ball off the rim or wide or short over and over. Belmont was not having this problem though, and raised the score from a seven point game to an eleven point game. Fortunately Lipscomb was still able to make free throws, and two by McGowan took the score back to a nine point game.
Belmont put up three more points, three minutes left in the game. With a little more than two minutes left in the game, Vinson managed to make a three, taking the score back to a nine point game.
With two minutes left on the clock, Belmont began to run down the clock, lazily dribbling the ball down the court until there were only nine seconds left on the shot clock. At that point they powered down to the hoop, but fortunately did not manage to score. In the process, Vinson was fouled and shot two free throws. She made both of them, raising the score to 62-72.
The next time Belmont regained the ball, they continued to run down the clock. Lipscomb managed to regain the ball, and called a timeout - the third of the quarter - with 51 seconds left on the game clock. This would turn out to be the third of seven timeouts called in the fourth quarter, five of them being called in the last minute of the game.
Holcomb put up two points, and Lipscomb called another timeout. The score was now 64-72, and there were 39 seconds left in the game.
Belmont's McGuff was fouled on, and made both free throws, which took the score back to a ten point difference.
Pearson fouled, her fifth, and Sorrentino subbed in for her. Within nine seconds, Sorrentino fouled, her fifth, and subbed out. The last fifty seconds of the game had already taken over seven minutes.
Thanks to three made free throws after McGuff's, Belmont raised the score to 64-77. There were twenty seconds left in the game.
Luckily, after that, Belmont would not score again. Instead, in a miraculous turn of events, in the last sixteen seconds of the game, Vinson would make a layup, and then Holcomb would follow with a jump shot. Cea took the assist for both. These took the score to 68-77, which is what it remained at by the final buzzer.
An eleven point game is not the worst loss in the world, although the Lipscomb team and students were devastated. Overall, it had been an excellent game of basketball that moved quickly and did not slow down for any player. The Bisons played very well, but it is definitely true that Lipscomb's team has areas it can improve in. The two that most stuck out by the end of the game were defense - though it had been played well on the Bisons' behalf most of the game, there were too many slip-ups to be overlooked - and shooting, especially under pressure. But one thing is for sure - if the Bisons can take care of these two things, and continue to improve alongside of that, they will be unstoppable.
One final disappointment of the night was the showing crowd wise, which leaves a challenge to the Lipscomb community. Though the next women's Battle is a full season away... show up and show out in support of your Lipscomb Bisons - they deserve it.
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