LEWISTON, Idaho – Tied 41-41 with just under 10 minutes left in the game, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team played its best when it needed to the most and was able to pull out a 65-56 win over Carroll College in a high intensity game in front of 1,214 fans on Thursday night.
After a somewhat uneventful first half that involved relatively low shooting percentages by both teams, the second half, from the time the clock starting ticking to the time the buzzer sounded, was as action packed as 20 minutes of basketball can be.
The Saints opened the second half with five 3-pointers in the first six minutes to jump to a 38-34 lead. The Warriors then fought back to gain a 41-39 edge, but the saints responded by tying the game, for the sixth time, at 41-41. At this point the Warriors shifted their efforts into overdrive and was finally able to put some distance between them and a scrappy Carroll College squad.
Senior Kim Preston made a 3-pointer to hand the Warriors a 44-41 lead, and the Warriors, despite Carroll’s foul court press and perseverance, protected that lead for the remainder of the game.
Senior Kim Preston made a 3-pointer to hand the Warriors a 44-41 lead, and the Warriors, despite Carroll’s foul court press and perseverance, protected that lead for the remainder of the game.
Kenna Reiter proved instrumental in the Warrior win as she attacked the paint and used fast breaks, Carroll turnovers, and free throws to score 10 of her team-high 17 points in the final six minutes. Reiter also had seven assists and two blocks.
Playing around 39 minutes of the game, senior Sadie Short showed off her stamina and provided an almost constant on-court leadership presence for the Warriors as she fought for 10 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
Because fellow post Kirsi Voshell fouled out midway through the second half, freshman Alyssa Fierro’s stamina was also tested a little bit and she seemed to rise to the occasion. Fierro ended up tying her season-high 14 rebounds and also added eight points.
Elly Bruursema led the Saints with 19 points despite struggling to make shots from the field. Bruursema finished 4-of-17 from the field (3-of-12 from outside), but did make 8-of-12 free throws.
LCSC’s offensive strategy obviously did not include a full scale attack from outside as LCSC attempted only six shots from behind the line. Inside was where the Warriors attacked and inside was where the Warriors scored.
Lewis-Clark State outscored Carroll 36-16 in the paint, and ended up making 23-of-57 shots from the field (40.4 percent) and 17-of-23 shots (73.9) from the foul line.
Carroll was 18-of-61 (29.5 percent) from the field, 8-of-25 (32 percent) from 3-point territory, and 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) from the free-throw line.
The win extends the Warrior winning streak to five games, and improves LCSC’s league record to 9-3 and its overall mark to 19-6. With the loss, Carroll goes to 3-8 in the conference and 14-13 overall.
Lewis-Clark State returns to action Saturday to face Rocky Mountain College. The Warriors will look to avenge the 69-63 loss they suffered at Rocky about a month ago. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
