November 19, 2007

Women’s and men’s basketball teams are on the road

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Warriors hit the road for three contests this week, the first taking place on Tuesday night against NCAA Division III Whitworth in Spokane. The Warriors then head to the Bay Area in California to take part in the Menlo Thanksgiving Tournament in Atherton. LCSC will face Concordia University of California on Saturday afternoon, and then face the host, Menlo College, on Sunday at 4 p.m. 

LCSC is 4-2 on the season after winning two games at the Staples Classic in Lewiston over the weekend. 

The Warriors feature a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging in double figures scoring. Senior post Mandy Troutt leads the team in both scoring at 14.3 points and rebounding at 9.8 boards per game. Breianna Gaines and Jade Fulbright are averaging 10.5 points per outing, while Sadie Short is at 10 points. Two others, Lacie Titmus and Vanessa West, are at 8.5 points per game. 

So far, defense has been the name of the game for the Warriors. LCSC is holding opponents to just 35.4 percent shooting from the field and is outrebounding them by more than 16 a game. The Warriors also have forced 205 turnovers in six games, an average of 34.2 per outing. 

Finally, LCSC is outscoring opponents this year by an average of 33 points a game (83.3-50.0). 

Katie Hart leads the team with 23 steals and has 202 during her career, while Fulbright has 21 this year and is fourth on the LCSC all-time steals list with 277. She trails Brianne Kottwitz, who is third on the list, by 17 steals. 

With 17 assists this season, Hart is 15 shy of tying Amanda Campbell for third place on the program’s all-time assist list. 

During last week’s win 105-39 win over Walla Walla University, the Warriors nearly tied a school record with 63 rebounds, one shy of the mark set in 2002 against Capilano College. 

Whitworth, an NCAA Division III school, is 1-1 on the season after splitting a pair of games last weekend in the Chicago Midway Classic. Tiffany Corigliano, a 5-10 junior, leads the Pirates with an 11.5 points per game average. 

Concordia is an NAIA school from the Golden State Athletic Conference, which LCSC has had trouble with this season. Both of its losses are to GSAC schools.  

Menlo is an NAIA Division II school that is 2-0 this season. Last year, it went 25-3 and advanced to the Division II national tournament. 

FRONTIER NONCONFERENCE RECORDS – Carroll 7-0, Westminster 5-0, Montana-Western 5-1, Montana State-Northern 5-2, Lewis-Clark State 4-2, Great Falls 5-4, Montana Tech 3-4, Rocky Mountain 3-4. 

WAA FUN BUS

The Warrior Athletic Association is sponsoring a fun bus trip to watch the LCSC-Whitworth game on Tuesday night. The bus will leave the LCSC Activity Center at 4:30 p.m., with the contest slated to begin at 7 p.m. The bus will return to Lewiston followed the game. 

The fun bus trip is $30 per person, which includes the bus trip, snacks, and tickets to the game. 

Anyone interested in going is asked to contact Cindi Durgan at either cfdurgan@lcsc.edu, or at 792-2692. 

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Warriors look to show no signs of rust as they hit the road to take part in the Flagship Inn Tournament in Ashland, Ore. LCSC takes on Oregon Institute of Technology on Friday at 5:30 p.m., followed by host Southern Oregon and Willamette at 7:30 p.m. 

The pre-determined pairings have OIT and Willamette on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Southern Oregon and LCSC at 7:30 p.m. 

The Warriors are 5-1 on the season and haven’t played since Nov. 9 when it lost a two-point game on the road to Walla Walla University. In that game, the Warriors were outrebounded by 12 and gave up 13 offensive rebounds. 

Senior forward Mike Gordy leads the Warriors in scoring at 19.7 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding at 5.7. Jon Daly is the team’s leading rebounder at 6.0 per contest, while Dorian Watson and Kasey Riley are averaging in double figures in scoring at 11.5 and 10.0 points per game, respectively. Brian Duckworth is hitting for 9.5 points per game. 

The Warriors are hitting an even 50 percent of their shots from the field, while holding opponents to 43.8 percent. The concern area is rebounding where LCSC has just three more rebounds than opponents this season. The Warriors have forced an average of 31 turnovers a game and are outscoring opponents by an average of 30 points a game, 90.5-60.0. 

Oregon Tech is 5-1 on the season and is coached by Dan Miles, who is in his 37th year at the helm. He has an 821-357 overall record with the Owls. 

Southern Oregon stands 4-3 on the season and has won four of its last five games since opening the season in Lewiston at the Cannon’s Building Materials Center Tournament. In that tournament SOU was handled by Carroll College 78-55 and then thumped by LCSC 88-44. 

“We face a tough road trip this weekend, playing Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon at SOU,” LCSC coach Tim Walker said.  “OIT is always good, and it’s no different this year.   They are very big and have good players inside their system.  Offensively, they can score, which will be a good test for us.  On Saturday night, we will see a much different Southern Oregon team than we saw a few weeks ago here.  They are better, and will be ready for us.” 

Both OIT and Southern Oregon are members of the NAIA Division II Cascade Conference in basketball. Oregon Tech was picked to finish second in the 11-team league this year, while Southern Oregon was picked sixth. 

FRONTIER NONCONFERENCE RECORDS – Montana State-Northern 6-0, Lewis-Clark State 6-1, Rocky Mountain 5-1, Westminster 5-1, Carroll 7-2, Montana Tech 3-5, Montana-Western 2-5, Great Falls 1-5.