A combination of hot shooting and strong defense gave the Belmont Bruins women’s basketball team a 70-54 win over rival Lipscomb Bisons at Allen Arena Saturday.
The road win was the third straight Battle of the Boulevard victory for the Belmont team.
“For Alyssa Visbeen, Katie Brooks and Jordan Coleman, this is their last time to ever come down and play in this arena, so I know they wanted to leave an impression,” said head coach Brittney Ezell.
Visbeen led the charge for the Bruins on the game, scoring a team-high 20 points. Her seven early points led Belmont on a 11-0 charge with 13 minutes to go in left in the first half.
From the start, the Bruin defense also held firm in a game where they scored 18 points due to turnovers. A Lipscomb four-minute scoring drought and additional defensive pressure kept the Bisons below 10 points until the last six minutes of half.
After trailing 40-21 at the half, Lipscomb returned to the court with a 4-0 run, but Molly Ernst sank two 3-pointers to stifle their comeback effort. She ended the night with 17 points.
Before six minutes had passed in the second half, Belmont had obtained a 25-point lead, their largest of the game.
A 9-0 Lipscomb run cut the lead to 52-35, but the Bruins regained a 20-point lead with on a Visbeen jumper with 8:13 left in the contest.
Tight defense and a barrage of baskets helped Belmont coast to the win.
The Bruins shot 50 percent from the field and 47 percent from behind the arc. Belmont’s post play heavily contributed to their win, as they 20 points in the paint. The bench put up a total of 22 points.
“It was a team win tonight,” said Visbeen. “We just were hyped up.”
The Bruins continue their non-conference schedule on Tuesday when they travel to the Hoosiers of the Big Ten.
“We’re ready to test our kids for another tough matchup,” said Ezell.