Lyon College Women Overcome WBC with Tough ‘D’, 54-47

Courtesy Lyon College Athletics Department

BATESVILLE, Ark. – After shooting a dismal 24% in the first half and falling behind by five at the break, the No. 23-ranked Lyon College women’s basketball team came from behind for the second straight American Midwest Conference contest on Saturday when the Scots forced 24 turnovers and held Williams Baptist College to just 19 second-half points in a 54-47 league win in James C. Becknell Gymnasium.

The victory was Lyon’s seventh in its last eight games, giving the Scots an 11-2 season record, but more importantly a 2-0 AMC slate. Williams Baptist dropped to 7-7 on the season, 0-2 in conference play.

The Scots used tough ‘D’ for their second straight league win, forcing 13 turnovers in the first half and 11 more in the second half, while committing only 10 on the offensive end throughout the game.

Lyon had to play defense because it struggled finding its shooting range. After hitting only 6-of-25 field goals in the first half, the Scots’ shooting improved to 41.7% (10-of-24) in the final 20 minutes to finish the game with a 32.7 percentile (16-of-49). They also were 0-of-9 from behind the three-point arc in the game.

Williams Baptist only managed a 28-23 lead at the half, despite hitting 60% (12-of-20) from the field. But the Lady Eagles finished the game at 36.2% (17-of-47) after the Scots limited them to just 18.5% (5-of-27) in the second half.

Senior Suzanne Fincham led the balanced Lyon attack, hitting 4-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line for 14 points. She added a pair of rebounds and two steals. Phagen Altom dropped in 12 points and chipped in eight rebounds and two steals, while Debbie Onukwube scored 10 points and hauled in five boards.

Alex Davidson and Whitney Keith both scored six points for LC, with Keith adding seven boards and four steals. Christine Smith and Taylor Grigg scored two each and Gabby Jenkins and Jahnette Epperson each finished with one point.

Cheyenne Childers was the only Williams Baptist player scoring in double figures, dumping in 15, to go along with seven rebounds. Tieara Burks added nine points and five boards and Michaela Thompson scored six points and tallied nine rebounds.

The Scots trailed 10-4 after the first 7:04 of the contest, but fought back to tied the game, 13-13, at the 7:23 mark with a 9-3 run.

The score was tied five times in the first half, but the Lady Eagles managed the advantage at the break.

After falling behind by seven to start the second half, Lyon College went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:16 to take a 33-30 lead with 17:14 left. The Scots’ lead grew to 42-34 at the 10:37 mark of the second half.

The closest Williams Baptist was able to come after that was one point, 44-43, with 6:08 remaining. The Scots held the lead and eventually stretched the advantage to the seven-point final.

In other American Midwest Conference action on Saturday, William Woods (11-1, 2-0 AMC) knocked off Harris-Stowe (3-11, 0-2 AMC), 68-57, Columbia College (9-5, 2-0 AMC) dropped Park University (4-7, 1-1 AMC), 75-43, Missouri Baptist (4-10, 1-1 AMC) dropped Stephens College (3-10, 0-2 AMC), 63-57, and Hannibal-LaGrange (9-4, 2-0 AMC) knocked off Benedictine-Springfield (3-9, 0-2 AMC), 66-51.

The Scots will take a break from conference play on Monday night when they host Ecclesia College in a non-conference matchup at 5:30 p.m. Lyon College will then host Park University on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Game 1 of a doubleheader with the LC men.