LEWISTON, Idaho – In a battle between two fleet-footed teams, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team pulled away from Carroll College in the second half and ended up with a 72-67 victory on Saturday night. To keep up with the 17 points of Carroll’s Elly Bruursema, the Warriors received strong contributions on the inside from Alyssa Fierro and Kirsi Voshell.
The win lifts LCSC to 19-3 overall and 5-1 in the conference, while Carroll drops to 10-10 and 1-4. The Warriors are now 12-0 at home this season, after holding a 13-1 record at home during their 08-09 campaign.
The game began with a showcase of fast-paced offensive prowess as the Warriors made 7 of their first 9 attempts to gain a 14-7 lead at the 14-minute mark. The Warriors then extended their lead to 20-10, but Carroll answered with a 22-11 run to gain a 32-31 lead. If not for Jasmine Stohr’s two-point drive at the buzzer the Saints would have led at the break.
The first half numbers matched up evenly as both teams shot 45 percent from the field and the Warriors’ held only a slight rebound advantage of 17-15.
The second half remained close until about the midway point when good shooting helped the Warriors go on a 14-2 run and hold a lead of 56-44 with 7:35 left on the clock. The Warriors shot 57.9 percent in the second half and finished with an even 50 percent on the night. Carroll shot 45.1 percent overall.
One of the biggest differences in scoring between the two teams was where the shots taken from. LCSC made only six attempts from behind the 3-point line (making two of them) and scored 36 points in the paint. Carroll was 6-of-18 from the outside, but collected only 24 points around the basket.
Fierro led the Warriors’ scoring efforts with 20 points and five rebounds. Voshell had 15 points, a team-leading eight rebounds, and four blocks. Voshell has now had nine blocks in the last two games.
Jasmine Stohr was LCSC’s only other player to reach double-digits as she dropped in 13 points and had two assists and two blocks. Lauren Daling came off the bench and led the team with six assists.
Besides Bruursema, who shot 4-of-10 from outside, Carroll received 13 points from Alysha Green and 12 points apiece from Alex Dunn and Jeni Guertin. Dunn led her team with eight rebounds and six assists, while Hannah Heidenreich added seven rebounds.
Overall, LCSC outscored Carroll 36-24 in the paint, while the Carroll’s bench outscored LCSC’s 32-12.
Carroll’s defense of the paint was hurt by an injury to starting post player Nikki Mills. Mills sustained the injury during the first half and was forced to sit out the remainder of the game.
The Warriors’ held a double-digit lead on 13 occasions in the second half, but a 3-pointer by Bruursema at the horn made it only a five-point difference in the end.
The Warriors’ next game will come at home against conference-leading Westminster College. With a win the Warriors will tie Westminster, which is currently 17-4 overall and 6-0 in conference play, for first in the conference standings. Game time will be at 6 p.m.
