L-C disrupts Westminster's
offensive focus ; Morrison
defensively cracks down on
high-scoring Fackrell, leading
Warrior women to 73-61 triumph
copyright The Trib
By
MATT BANEY
OF THE TRIBUNE
About a month ago, the
Lewis-Clark State women's basketball
team escaped Salt Lake City with a
two-point win over Westminster. That
victory came despite a 40-point
detonation by the Griffins' star,
Shalee Fackrell.
Afterward, L-C forward Aundrea
Morrison presented her coach with a
solution to the Fackrell issue: be
more physical with her.
"And I said, 'OK, you're guarding
her next time,' " LCSC coach Brian
Orr said. "When a player comes up
with that, you know they're going to
do a good job."
Hounded by the 6-foot Morrison --
and occasionally pestered by all the
other Warriors -- Fackrell managed
just 13 points. That included a
three-point, 1-for-3 showing in the
first half.
Not surprisingly, sixth-ranked
LCSC collected a 73-61 Frontier
Conference win Saturday night at the
Activity Center. It was the
Warriors' first outing since losing
to Carroll on a last-second
3-pointer seven days earlier.
The last time L-C faced Fackrell,
"We were kind of just playing off;
we really weren't on her tight,"
Morrison said. "We ended up doing a
much better job tonight."
Morrison generally played behind
the 6-foot senior, with Ashley Baker
providing help from the other side.
And all the Warriors seemed to sag
toward Fackrell.
With only this game on its
schedule, LCSC spent all week
plotting its defense.
"Usually we're focusing on our
stuff, (but) we really focused on
stopping her," said Orr, whose club
improved to 22-3 and 9-1. "We had
Plan A, and we had Plan B, and we
had Plan C, and we never had to go
past Plan A. I just thought Aundrea
did a great job keeping her in
control, and Ashley did a good job
backing her up a few times."
But even with Fackrell held well
below her 26.5-point average, LCSC
had to work for this win. The
Griffins (13-12, 4-6) connected on 8
of 14 tries from 3-point range in
the first half, and led by four
points at one moment.
But the Warriors took back the
edge just before halftime. Cami
Kalbfleisch canned an
atmosphere-piercing triple with 50
second left, then Katie Hart spun
her way to a left-handed scoop with
two seconds on the clock.
The 40-36 edge was then augmented
by Morrison, who pumped in six
consecutive points to open the
second half. She finished with a
game-high 20.
Westminster sliced to within
three with about eight minutes left,
but Baker had the answer. Matched
against Fackrell, the 6-3 junior
powered her way to three baskets in
a 3 1/2-minute span, pushing the
margin to 11 points.
Baker finished with 17 points and
15 rebounds.
"I really thought Ashley was
really determined the second half
when she got the ball," Orr said.
"She was more focused."
The Warriors will make their last
road trip of the regular season next
week, with stops at Montana
State-Northern and Great Falls.
WESTMINSTER (13-12, 4-6)
Fackrell 4-14 5-6 13, Evans 6-12
0-0 15, Eckman 2-5 3-4 9, Hirschi
3-4 0-0 9, Leader 2-15 2-4 7,
Haberle 1-2 0-0 3, Dodge 0-0 0-0 0,
Taggart 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 20-57
10-14 61.
LEWIS-CLARK STATE (22-3, 9-1)
Hart 3-7 3-4 9, Fulbright 2-7 0-0
5, Kalbfleisch 4-7 2-2 13, Baker
8-18 1-5 17, Morrison 9-16 2-2 20,
Wittmer 1-2 0-1 3, Preston 0-1 0-0
0, Yancheva 0-2 0-0 0, Nelson 1-1
1-2 4, West 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 29-66
9-16 73.
Halftime score -- LCSC 40,
Westminster 36. Three-point goals --
Westminster 11-26 (Evans 3-5, Eckman
2-4, Hirschi 3-4, Leader 1-9,
Haberle 1-2, Taggart 1-2); LCSC 6-12
(Hart 0-1, Fulbright 1-1,
Kalbfleisch 3-6, Wittmer 1-1,
Yancheva 0-1, Nelson 1-1). Rebounds
-- Westminster 40 (Fackrell 14);
LCSC 39 (Baker 15). Assists --
Westminster 13 (Evans 5); LCSC 15
(Hart, Fulbright, Nelson 3). Total
fouls -- Westminster 13, LCSC 14.
Technical fouls -- none. Fouled out
-- none. |
