DILLON, Mont. – Holding the University of Montana Western women’s basketball team to one free throw during a near-eight minute stretch of the first half, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team was able to stretch its win streak to 10 with a 72-56 win over the Bulldogs in Frontier Conference action on Friday night.
The Bulldogs, 0-3 in conference play and 4-12 overall, lost their eighth straight game despite jumping out to a 4-0 lead at the 18:40 mark of the first half. However, the Warrior scored 14 of the next 15 points over a 7:31 span to take a 14-5 advantage and never looked back.
LCSC, ranked No. 11 in the NAIA, improved to 3-0 in conference play at 17-2 overall.
Montana Western’s cold spell in the opening half continued as it scored only four points during a near 10-minute stretch, which allowed the Warriors to build on their lead. Montana Western did cut the lead to three at 21-18 with 3:21 left in the half, but LCSC regained its touch and scored 10 of the final 13 points of the half for a 31-21 advantage at halftime.
LCSC sophomore Alyssa Fierro, a 6-foot-2 post, keyed LCSC’s late run by burying three 3-pointers. Fierro entered the contest 2-of-8 from the 3-point line, but finished 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to spark the Warriors.
The Warriors outscored UMW 41-35 in the second half as sophomore Jasmine Stohr had 13 of her game-high 17 points in the half. Montana Western did score the first bucket of the second half to cut the margin to eight points, but LCSC responded with a 13-0 run to put the game out of reach at 44-23 with 14:41 remaining. Stohr had seven points during the run, while senior guard Nikki DePeel added five.
Montana Western didn’t get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
The contest was a defensive struggle for the most part. LCSC held UMW to just 36.4 percent shooting from the field (20-of-55) and forced 26 turnovers. LCSC, however, had 24 turnovers and shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57). The Warriors, however, did hit 9-of-18 3-point attempts and held a 41-36 rebounding edge.
The Warriors again featured a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures. Stohr, LCSC’s leading scorer on the season, hit 7-of-18 shots from the field and added four rebounds and two assists. Fierro finished with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while DePeel added 12 points and Ashley Honeycutt scored 10 and grabbed six rebounds.
LCSC had an 18-8 scoring advantage on second chance points and a 22-14 edge in points off turnovers.
The Warriors conclude the two-day road trip with a contest against Montana Tech on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., PST, in Butte, Mont. Montana Tech is 1-2 in conference play at 11-4 overall after falling 85-64 to Westminster on Friday night. Westminster, LCSC and Rocky Mountain are all 3-0 in conference play.
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