Warriors come back from 20-point hole
Copyright of the Lewiston Morning Tribune

BUTTE, Mont. -- Down by as much as 20 points in the first half, the Lewis-Clark State women's season appeared head toward an unceremonious end.

But with a remarkable second-half comeback, the third-seeded Warriors roared back for an 80-70 triumph over sixth-seeded Great Falls in the first round of the Frontier Conference tournament Thursday.

L-C, rated 28th in the NAIA, is trying to improve its claim on an at-large berth in the national tournament. The Warriors can greatly help their cause today, when they face second-seeded Montana-Western in the semifinals at 11 a.m. PST.

LCSC (22-9) got off to a terrible start, hitting just 5 of 36 field tries in the opening half. The Warriors trailed 42-23 at halftime, staying somewhat in reach with a 10-for-12 showing at the line.

L-C began to slowly close the gap in the second half. Midway through the period, post Ashley Baker, the Warriors' leading scorer, converted her first basket of the game. Baker's score was bracketed by 3-pointers from Nikki Haerling and Cami Kalbfleisch, and that flurry trimmed the Argos' lead to five points.

With less than seven minutes remaining, Kendra West made a putback to tie the game at 59. On LCSC's next possession, Baker scored inside to give the Warriors the lead.

After Great Falls scored to tie the game again, Katya Yancheva answered with a 3-pointer with 5:12 remaining. L-C led the rest of the way.

Haerling, who collected at game-high 20 points, went 7-for-7 from the line in the last 2:18.

The Warriors also got 12 points from Jade Fulbright, 11 points and 11 boards from West and eight points and 12 rebounds from Baker.

Great Falls, which hit 50 percent of its shots in the first half, cooled to 7-for-32 (21.9 percent) after the break.

GREAT FALLS (11-18)

Freeman 3-11 8-14 14, Ball 3-12 3-5 11, Neill 5-16 4-7 19, Green 2-5 2-2 6, McPherson 6-9 5-6 17, Muth 0-2 0-0 0, Fairbanks 0-1 0-0 0, Forster 0-0 0-0 0, Ott 0-0 0-0 0, Killeagle 1-2 1-1 3. Totals 20-58 23-35 70.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (22-9)

Kalbfleisch 3-11 0-1 9, K. West 4-15 3-4 11, Baker 3-6 2-3 8, Haerling 4-13 9-9 20, Fulbright 2-4 8-8 12, Hart 0-3 0-0 0, Wittmer 1-3 0-0 3, Yancheva 2-6 0-0 5, V. West 2-6 3-4 7, McCauley 1-4 3-4 5. Totals 22-71 28-33 80.

Halftime score -- UGF 42, LCSC 23. Three-point goals -- UGF 7-24 (Freeman 0-2, Ball 2-6, Neill 5-13, Green 0-1, McPherson 0-1, Fairbanks 0-1); LCSC 8-25 (Kalbfleisch 3-8, K. West 0-2, Haerling 3-7, Fulbright 0-1, Wittmer 1-1, Yancheva 1-5, V. West 0-1). Rebounds -- UGF 43 (McPherson 9); LCSC 56 (Baker 12). Assists -- UGF 13 (Freeman 4); LCSC 14 (Hart 8). Total fouls -- UGF 25; LCSC 24. Technical fouls -- none. Fouled out -- Freeman, Green, Fulbright.