SHERMAN, Texas - The Lyon College women's basketball made their 2023-24 debut on the road with an 93-86 loss to the Austin College Kangaroos on Wednesday night in Texas.

Allison Byars scored 35 points to lead the Scots (0-1), Samantha Taylor put in 20 points and Zharia Childress pulled down 11 rebounds in the loss.

Lyon fell behind 5-0 before Taylor put in two free throws of her perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the line. Byars put in a layup in the paint and Stella Parker scored on a layup to cut the Roos lead to four points, 10-6. Taylor added two more free throws and Byars put in two free throws to tie the game at 10-10 at the 4:15 mark of the first quarter. 
A layup by Byars and two free throws from Parker trimmed Austin College's lead to one point, 15-14, with 2:42 to go in the first quarter. Byars put in two more from the line and Parker hit a jumper on a Scots' fast break to tie the game at 18-18 with 1:27 to go in the period. Seconds later, Byars drove in for a layup and hit a jumper with five seconds to go for a 22-22 tie.

Austin College opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run before Natalya Kaza made a jump shot in the paint with an assist from Parker. Taylor broke free for a fast break layup and did the same thing a few seconds later to cut the lead down to four points, 32-28. The Kangaroos pushed their advantage back to nine points, but Alexis Solomon knocked down a three-pointer for Lyon. 
Two quick scores from Austin College made for a 10-point lea dwith 3:23 to go before halftime. Byars made two free throws and Kayla Richardson scored inside to keep the margin at 10 points. Byars made two more free throws before the half ended to make it a 45-37 Austin College lead. 

Richardson put in two free throws to start the third period and Byars connected on a layup. Kaza followed that with a 3-pointer to cut the Kangaroos lead to 47-44 at the 8:16 mark. Less than a minute later, Byars scored on a short bank sot to make it a one-point game, 47-46. Childress scored inside to keep the contest at one point, 49-48 and Richardson got a layup with 4:58 to go to make it 51-50. 
Austin College moved out to a six point lead, but Taylor hit another layup and made two free throws for a Scots' four-point swing. Austin College went up by eight points, but Byars made three out of four free throws and Childress hit a layup with 32 seconds to play and Richardson put in a free throw after a foul as time ran out to make it a 65-60 game.

Brooklyn Rowe hit three-pointer to start the Scots scoring in the fourth quarter and  Parker made a jump shot, but Austin College held on to a 72-65 lead. Byars scored, but the Roos moved out to a 12-point advantage, 79-67 with 4:40 to go in the game. That's when Lyon started its run. Taylor made two free throws and put in a layup on a fast break, but Austin College scored four in a row to go back up by 12. 
Byars scored inside twice on two trips for Lyon down the floor, then Taylor scored on a layup, made a steal and converted a layup off an assist from Byars. Childress made a free throw and Taylor converted another layup off a fast break to cut the Austin College lead to six points with 51 seconds left. 
Austin College went back up by 10 points, but Byars hit a jump shot, then added two free throws with seven seconds remaining. 

Lyon College had 53 rebounds in the game and made 27-of-31 free throws, but went 28-of-81 from the field.