Warriors down Cavaliers, 91-85

LEWISTON,ID--Sixth-ranked Lewis-Clark State rallied to hold off a tough 20th-ranked Concordia University team, 91-85 in the first round of the Banner Bank/Howard Johnson Tournament, Friday night, at Warrior Gymnasium. Lewis-Clark State will take on Biola University in the championship game of the classic format tournament at 8:00 PM. Biola defeated Westminster College of Salt Lake City 78-67 in the other game.

The Warriors (1-0) trailed by as many as nine in the first half, but went on a 19-7 run covering the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half to take a 51-49 lead on a three-pointer from Shannon Russel with 15:57 left to go. That was the Warriors first lead since the 5:42 mark in the first half.

The Cavaliers (0-1) stormed back and took an eight point lead on Amanda Tweedy’s basket with 7:24 left to go. A 9-1 run by the Warriors tied the game at 73 with 5:18 left and LC held on for the win.

Shannon Russel led all scorers, and four Warriors in double figures, with 24 points, tying a career-high. Last year’s national leader in 3-point accuracy, Russel hit on 6-of-11 treys. Jessica Foot sparked the offense off of the bench, tying her own career-high in points with 19. Shanta Coleman gathered in eleven rebounds and also tallied five assists.

Tweedy led the Cavaliers with her double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds. Angela Rosales poured in 15 and All-American Niecee Madrigal tallied 16 points and six assists. Heather Seyfert pulled down 14 boards for Concordia. Next up for Concordia is Westminster College at 6:00 PM.

The Warriors converted 23 Cavalier turnovers into 24 points.

Box score vs. Concordia

In the earlier game, Biola (1-0) used Elizabeth Matthews’ double-double of 24 points and eleven rebounds to a 78-67 win over Westminster College of Salt Lake City. Allison Box added 19 points.

Rebekah Steenblik led the Lady Griffins (0-2) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Jessica Richter and Rachael Patterson each registered eleven points.