Junior guard Taylin Underwood scored her career best 35 points and grabbed 10 reobunds for a double-double.
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar

The Lady Lions basketball team returned with a 75-63 victory at home against Bethune-Cookman. The win extends the team’s overall record to 2-3 for this season.  

Head Coach Errol Gauff credits the team’s defensive effort for the win and was proud of the result.

“Great effort,” said Gauff. “We gave them four goals before the game. One of them was to attack, both with our defense and our offense and I thought the execution was done for the most part. I thought that our young ladies were highly active. They executed and communicated with the different changes in defense.”

Freshman guard Taz Stinson was also happy with her individual performance and the team’s performance. However, she feels the team could have done better and considers it a work in progress.  

“I think the win was a good win,” said Stinson. “We played the best we have played all season. Even though the season’s just beginning, we worked hard for this game.”

Junior guard Taylin Underwood registered a career high 35 points and 10 rebounds. She was particularly impressive in shooting the three pointers making 8-13 and was pleased with the performance.

“I felt good,” said Underwood. “I felt like we played together as a team. Everybody was all around doing their job. If it was not for my teammates, I don’t think I would’ve gotten the points that I did. It was a lot of fun.”

In the game, the Lady Lions looked lively defensively as they recorded 26 turnovers. Freshman guard Charliee Dugas feels this effort was reflected in the result.

“I think we came in with a lot of energy,” said Dugas. “Everybody was moving and talking. Defensive wise we came out aggressive, so that kinda sparked up the game.”

The team came back home on the back of a defeat against Baylor. The loss motivated the team to come back stronger.  

“Well, against Baylor, it was a tough loss, but we knew that we were going against competition,” said Stinson. “Then we didn’t wanna lose again, so we just stepped up to the challenge.”

Gauff believes the team still has a long way to go and wants the team the improve as the season goes on.

“Every day, in all facets, we must improve,” said Gauff. “After one of the games, I wrote ‘Smart’ on the board and that’s one of the things we need to continue to improve with our basketball understanding, and we just need to improve with our basic fundamentals.”

The Lady Lions will be playing four away games in a row. Underwood believes the team needs to continue with the effort and keep on improving while playing against some tough opponents. 

“Well, they are a higher ranked team than we are,” said Underwood. “Like we did today, we need to do a lot better in defense and we have to be able to stop them. Like Coach Gauff says ‘When the defense is there, the offense will come.’”

The team will begin their away fixtures against University of Colorado on Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. in Boulder, Colorado.

Junior forward Tytiana Hall shooting a jumper.
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar

Freshman guard Charliee Dugas on a fast break layup
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar

The defensive double team of sophomore guard Baylie Stears and freshman guard Taz Stinson.
Nikisun Shrestha/The Lion's Roar