LCSC women fall to Westminster, ending two winning streaks

2-9-08

LEWISTON, Idaho – In a game where the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team was simply not shooting the ball as well as usual, Westminster College was able to sneak away with a win against the Warriors 68-55 on Saturday evening.  

Although the loss does not budge LCSC from its spot atop the Frontier Conference standings, it does end the Warriors’ nine-game winning streak—and, of possibly more significance, marks the end of a Frontier Conference record of 21 straight Frontier Conference regular season wins.  

Until Saturday’s loss to Westminster, the Warriors had not lost a regular season conference game since February 25, 2006 against the University of Montana Western.  

A lackluster shooting performance in the first half saw LCSC down 30-18 at halftime. The Warriors hit just 19 percent, while the Griffins shot 50 percent from the field—including a 4-for-4 effort from senior Kelsi Olson who led Westminster with 12 points at the half, and finished the game with 28 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 14-of-18 shooting from the foul line.  

Following Mandy Troutt’s two quick shots to start off the second-half, the Warriors were able to cut Westminster’s lead to five with over 17 minutes left in regulation. And, after two Vanessa West free-throws the Warriors were only five points behind with 6:55 left in the game. However, foul trouble and a few key three-points by Westminster kept the game just out of reach.  

In contrast to Lewis-Clark State’s convincing win over the Griffins in Salt Lake City 80-52 on January 5, Westminster was able to keep LCSC’s offensive to its lowest point total on the season.  

West led the Warriors’ scoring efforts with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Sadie Short led the team in rebounds with 14. Short also had 6 points. Troutt added 10 points and four rebounds, and Jade Fulbright collected 4 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds before fouling out late in the second half.  

Fulbright’s three steals actually move her to number two on LCSC’s all-time career steals list. With 315 career steals, Fulbright surpasses Julie Stringer’s 314 (1989-1993), and stands only 31 behind Amanda Campbell’s all-time mark of 346 (1995-1999).   

The loss moves LCSC to 7-1 in the conference and 18-4 on the season, and improves Westminster’s conference record to 5-4 and their overall record to 18-6.  

The Warriors head to Havre, Montana next week to take on Montana State University-Northern on Friday, February 15. Then, on Saturday, February 16, they travel to Great Falls, Montana to play the University of Great Falls.