LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State women’s basketball team could not keep pace with Westminster College and fell 81-66 in its final game of the regular season on Saturday night. The Warriors were attempting to overcome a team that finished undefeated in the Frontier Conference this season and defeated LCSC 101-70 a month ago.
LCSC fell behind early in the game as Westminster hit four 3-pointers in five attempts in the first five minutes to jump to an 18-6 edge. While most shots from behind the 3-point line seem to rim-in for Westminster, most shots from long range seemed to rim-out for the Warriors. Both teams created open looks, but Westminster was able to make 7-of-14 of its 3-point attempts in the first half to finish 10-of-24 in the game, while LCSC shot 0-for-6 in the first half and 4-for-20 in the game. LCSC’s 20 percent mark from outside is its lowest percentage in a game so far this season.
Take away the 18 point difference from behind the 3-point line and both teams stacked up pretty evenly.
LCSC was outrebounded 40-31, but was on the better side of the 16-14 turnover totals. Both teams scored six points off of fast breaks, LCSC outscore the Griffins 28-24 in the paint, and the Griffins outscored LCSC 14-13 off of turnovers.
From the field, Westminster shot 42.9 percent compared to LCSC’s 36.8 percent, and from the foul like the Griffins shot 74.2 percent to the Warriors’ 76.9 percent.
Led by a double-double from Kenna Reiter, Lewis-Clark State did claw its way back to a five point differential with 5:05 left in the first half via a 14-6 run, and twice cut the lead to nine points in the second half.
Reiter, a sophomore, finished the game with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.
LCSC’s Jasmine Stohr had a team-high 15 points, while Westminster’s Elisa Leader led her team with 19 points. Leader went 3-for-6 from 3-point range and also had five rebounds and five assists.
Besides Leader, Westminster had three other players score in double-digits. Suzanne Young and Shannon Evans scored 12 apiece, and Michelle Pace had 10. Evans also had eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Senior Sadie Short had an all around strong night for the Warriors as she added nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals to the cause.
The win gives Westminster a perfect 14-0 mark in the league and a 24-5 record overall. LCSC drops to 10-4 in the conference and 20-7 overall.
Because Lewis-Clark State and MSU-Northern are now tied for second in the Frontier Conference standings and because both teams lost to the same teams during the regular season, a coin toss will decide if LCSC will be the second or third seed in the conference tournament.
If LCSC wins the coin toss it will be the No. 2 seed and will host the No. 7 seed Montana Western on Wednesday. If LCSC loses the coin toss it will be seeded No. 3 and will play the No. 6 seed Montana Tech on Wednesday.
Carroll, Montana Tech and Montana Western all tied for fifth place in the conference at 4-10, but Carroll went 3-1 against the other two in head-to-head play and earns the No. 5 seed. Tech went 2-2 to get the No. 6 seed, while Montana Western was 1-3 to earn the seventh seed.
Because Wednesday’s game at 7 p.m. at the Activity Center is a part of the conference tournament, LCSC season passes will not be accepted at the gate. Ticket prices will be $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and students.
