LEWISTON, Idaho – Holding its opponent to less than 55 points for the fourth straight game, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team’s offense caught fire in the second half and left Montana State University-Northern in the dust. The Warriors overcame the Skylights 67-51 on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to nine.
With the win the Warriors, who were picked to win the Frontier Conference in the league’s annual preseason coaches’ poll, are now 16-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play. MSU-Northern falls to 9-9 and 0-2.
Saturday’s contest featured multiple scoring streaks, but the Warriors second half run ended up being too much for the Skylights to surmount. Thanks to stiff defense and the jump shot of Jasmine Stohr the Warriors rolled to a 12-2 lead within the first five minutes, however, MSU-Northern responded with a 12-2 streak of their own to knot the game at 14-14 with 11:23 left in the half.
The remainder of the first half went back and forth. The Skylights held a one point advantage on two occasions, and the Warriors were able to climb to a 6-point lead, but the half closed with the Warriors up 28-26.
After being tied 30-30 at around three minutes into the second half, LCSC’s offense settled in to go on a 21-4 run and bring the score to 53-34 with 7:37 left in regulation.
The Warriors offense in the second half compared to its performance in the first half featured much better ball control, better passing, and a better shooting percentage. LCSC was tagged with only one turnover in the second half, collected 12 assists on 16 field goals, and shot 51.1 percent in the second half after shooting 40.7 percent in the first.
Overall, LCSC outshot MSUN 46.6 percent to 32.6 percent, and was on the better side of the 36-16 points scored in the paint ratio. The Skylights proved their rebounding worth by scoring 18 second chance points and outrebounding LCSC 37-31.
In what was a very balanced team effort, Kenna Reiter, for the first time this season, finished as LCSC’s high scorer as she shot 7-of-11 to claim 16 points. Reiter also led her team with seven rebounds and five assists. Finishing right behind Reiter was Stohr who collected 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Stohr was 6-of-10 from the field and also had a game high three steals.
Kirsi Voshell had four of LCSC’s six blocks in the game. The Warriors, who average 5.5 swats a night, came into the contest ranked seventh in the NAIA in blocks per game.
Zivile Gaizutyte headed MSU-Northern’s efforts with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Katie Kuntz added 10 points and four rebounds.
The Warriors next games will come on the road. LCSC plays the University of Montana Western on Friday, and then travels to face Montana Tech on Saturday.
