Warrior' rampage continues; L-C women follow up gratifying victory with 79-53 triumph over lightly regarded Montana Tech
Copyright The Trib

1-28-06

BUTTE, Mont. -- Twenty-four hours after toppling the fifth-ranked team in the NAIA, the Lewis-Clark State women on Saturday were faced with a club that had just five wins.

But the Warriors' focus was just as intense as the night before.

Shooting 62 percent from the floor in the first half and playing suffocating press defense, ninth-ranked LCSC incinerated Montana Tech 79-53 in Frontier Conference action. It was the Warriors' 14th consecutive win, and improved their record to 20-2 and 7-0.

It also came on the heels of their 10-point victory over Montana-Western. They are now alone in first place in the FC standings.

LCSC blazed to a 20-7 edge over the Orediggers, and was up 43-26 at halftime.

"Defensively for the first half, we just dominated," L-C coach Brian Orr said. "They had a hard time getting the ball up the court against our press. And it seemed like everything we ran offensively, we were able to score on it."

Junior forward Aundrea Morrison put up a game-high 17 points for the Warriors while Ashley Baker added 12 points and seven boards. Off the bench, freshman Kim Preston went 4-for-4 from the field and notched 10 points.

L-C got a total of 28 points from its reserves.

"Our bench was great all weekend," Orr said. "I can't say enough about the players coming off the bench."

With their victory over UMW, the Warriors should climb in the national poll. But how far?

"I hope they give us some attention," Orr said. "Somebody told me that our game (with the Bulldogs) was on the NAIA Webcast last night. Two top 10 teams playing, and we're on the road and we win, you hope you can get some respect for that."

L-C has now played, and beaten, the seven other teams in the conference. During the second half of the regular season, five of the Warriors' seven games will be at the Activity Center.

"In reality, we've got it in our hands," Orr said. "We just need to take care of business, and we should be right in there in the running for the conference championship. One game at a time, but that's the goal."

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (7-0, 20-2)

Katie Hart 3-5 0-0 7, Ashley Baker 5-9 2-4 12, Jade Fulbright 5-10 0-0 10, Cami Kalbfleisch 2-8 0-0 5, Aundrea Morrison 5-9 7-12 17, Terri Wittmer 0-2 0-2 0, Kim Preston 4-4 0-0 10, Katya Yancheva 1-5 2-2 5, Janeen Nelson 2-3 1-1 6, Vanessa West 1-2 5-6 7. Totals 28-57 17-27 79.

MONTANA TECH (1-6, 5-16)

Kate Strietz 1-3 0-0 2, Kyle Cook 1-4 0-1 3, Tami Infante 5-10 1-2 11, Marcie Alzheimer 3-6 2-2 8, Johanna Fryer 3-10 4-5 10, Shelli Vicars 0-0 0-0 0, Jonna Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Stephanie Baertsch 3-7 3-4 11, Jacqui Millam 1-5 4-5 6, Kelsey Devries 0-2 2-2 2, Jordan Kambich 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 16-21 53.

Halftime score -- LCSC 43, MT 26. Three-point goals -- LCSC 6-10 (Hart 1-1, Kalbfleisch 1-3, Wittmer 0-1, Preston 2-2, Yancheva 1-2, Nelson 1-1); MT 3-12 (Cook 1-3, Infante 0-1, Fryer 0-1, Baertsch 2-4, Millam 0-1, Devries 0-1, Kambich 0-1). Fouled out -- none. Total fouls -- LCSC 19, MT 17. Rebounds -- LCSC 41 (Hart 7, Baker 7); MT 25 (Fryer 6). Assists -- LCSC 14 (Hart 4, Fulbright 4); MT 9 (Infante 4).