Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Lipscomb Lady Bisons closed out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule with a 69-41 loss to South Alabama Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center in Mobile.

The Lady Bisons trailed 26-24 at the half. Guard Jenna Bartsokas scored 11 of her points in the first half but only managed two more points in the final 20 minutes.

At the 11:05 mark of the first half the Lady Bisons led by 11 points, 16-5, on a jumper by Bartsokas.

From 10:57 to 6:12 South Alabama outscored the Lady Bisons 18-2. South Alabama took the lead at 19-18 during that run and never trailed again.

In the second half the Lady Bisons trailed 38-32 on a jump shot by O’Neisha Smith with 10:35 on the clock.

South Alabama then went on a 9-1 run to build a 14-point lead, 47-33 with 7:22 left to play.

Leading 51-40 with 6:07 remaining South Alabama closed out the game with an 18-1 run.

Forward Hannah Phillips’ 3-point shot with 6:07 left was the last field goal for the Lady Bisons in the game. Center Brittany Duerk added a free throw with 31 seconds to go.

Forward Valerie Bronson led the Lady Bisons with seven rebounds. Taylor Ammons pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds as South Alabama held a 48-37 advantage on the boards.

Lauren Walker came off the bench for South Alabama to score 21 points, 18 on 3-pointers, in 23 minutes. Sarda Peterson added 16.

South Alabama, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, is 8-4 for the season. It was their fifth straight win. The Lady Bisons are 5-5.

The Lady Bisons return to action on New Year’s Day when they visit Miami in the final non-conference game of the regular season. They put their 2-0 Atlantic Sun Conference record on the line at Stetson in Deland, Fla., Jan. 3 in the first conference road game of the season.