LCSC Warriors
Lewis-Clark State College Women's Basketball
1998-99 Season Outlook

Coach Mike Divilbiss refers to a quote from Thomas Jefferson when speaking about the women’s basketball program at Lewis-Clark State College. "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past," Jefferson once told John Adams. Divilbiss has adopted that quote, more than likely because the past is the past and it can’t be changed. But also because "I think that saying really applies to this year’s team," Divilbiss said.

Eight new faces will combine with five returnees to make up the 1998-99 version of the Warriors, who will attempt to advance to the NAIA National Tournament for a record third consecutive season.

But Divilbiss is quick to point out his goals and dreams may not be shared by his players, at least not yet.

Divilbiss on this season: "The goals are the same: win a national championship. But right now, we’re so young we don’t even know what our dreams are. A lot of things we aren’t going to know until we get well into this thing."

Divilbiss welcomes six freshmen into the program, and he already has high hopes for them.

Divilbiss on freshmen: "It’s a nice continuation of the kind of kids we have. We have good people; they’re good in the classroom. And it’s a very strong-willed group of people, too. I like that these players are going to challenge me. They are competitive and have some degree of their own thoughts on things and I like that. It’s a shot in the arm to have as many new people as we have."

Familiar faces include senior Amanda Campbell, junior Lora Jolley and sophomores Sara McEachern, Kally Lytle and Brooke Cushman.

Divilbiss on the schedule: "There are three things you have to answer to be successful and win: Will you handle the demands of the program, will you play together and will you play with the same commitment and desire to achieve as much as the group that just left. If you do those three things, you’ll be outstanding."

The Warriors, members of the Pacific West Conference, will play mostly a NCAA Division II schedule, but will compete in the post-season for a berth in the NAIA Tournament. LCSC and Simon Fraser, another team playing in the Pac West but seeking an NAIA National Tournament berth, will play a best-of-three series at the end of the season. The winner of that series will then play a one-game playoff against the champion of the Frontier Conference (comprised of Montana schools) for an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament. At-large berths are also available. Members of the Pac West Conference include Seattle Pacific, St.Martin’s, Western Washington, Simon Fraser, Central Washington, Humboldt State (California), Western Oregon, Montana State-Billings, Western New Mexico, Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks. Northern Michigan, which competed in the NCAA Division II Final Four last season, comes to Lewiston for a tournament in November, the only regular-season tournament LCSC will compete in this season. LCSC opens at Idaho, the only NCAA Division I team on the Warriors’ schedule. This is the last time these two schools will meet as the Vandals refuse to play the Warriors after this season. LCSC beat Idaho 73-71 last season.

Divilbiss on the season: "This is by far our toughest road to the national tournament and by far the toughest schedule since I’ve been here. There are two things we can control - our attitude and effort. We’ll be playing our best basketball at the end of the season."

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Page Manager: Mike Tatko
Revised: January 30, 1999