SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Up against one of the best shooting teams in the nation, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team battled but fell to Westminster College 101-70 on Saturday. The Warriors, currently ranked No. 21 in the NAIA, were attempting to hand the Griffins their first conference loss.
The setback puts the Warriors three games behind Westminster in the Frontier Conference standings as they now stand at 4-3 in league and 14-6 overall while the Griffins are 7-0 and 17-5.
Elisa Leader’s 27 points and Shannon Evan’s triple-double led a veteran Westminster roster that shot 54.8 percent from the field and 51.9 percent from behind the arc and simply put the Warriors out of reach.
Leader shot 10-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-6 from 3-point territory, while Evans, who currently ranks second in the NAIA with seven assists per game, collected 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Lewis-Clark State went bucket for bucket with the Griffins for the majority of the first half and shot a respectable 42.2 percent from the field in the game, but fell far short of the Griffins from behind the 3-point line. LCSC went 27-for-64 from the field and 5-for-18 from 3-point land while the Griffins shot 34-for-62 from the field and 14-for-27 from behind the line.
The Griffins are currently ranked third in the nation in field goal percentage (47.6) and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.4).
Jasmine Stohr, who had scored 47 points over her previous two games, led LCSC with 21 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point territory to go with her four steals. Sadie Short finished with 16 points and six rebounds, and Kenna Reiter was the only other Warrior to score in double-digits as she finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds and seven assists.
Three 3-pointers helped Westminster outscore LCSC 13-2 in the closing minutes of the first half. Consequently, despite the game being tied 31-31 with 3:37 remaining in the half, the Griffins boasted a 44-33 lead at the break.
In the second half, a jumper by Short followed by a steal by Nikki DePeel and a shot from Jasmine Stohr cut the lead to 14 with 11:57 left in the game, however, this was the closest the Warriors would come to catching up with a Westminster squad that just kept making shots.
Leader shot an impressive 7-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point territory to have 18 points by halftime, and Evans carried the Griffins down the stretch as she scored 20 points in the second half.
Westminster also had 17 points and six rebounds from Alexis Tucker.
Despite the Warriors turning the ball over only twice more than the Griffins (22-20), Westminster outscored LCSC 30-13 in points scored off of turnovers and 14-0 in fast break points.
After three straight road games, the Warriors now settle in for two contests at home next week. LCSC will take on MSU-Northern on Thursday, Feb. 5, and then play the University of Great Falls on Saturday, Feb. 7. Both games tipoff at 6 p.m.
