SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Playing its third game in less than 48 hours, it would seem the Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team could be called slug bait.
Or not.
Instead the Warriors squashed the Banana Slugs as LCSC played well in all facets of the game and used a 22-0 run in the second half to roll past the University of Santa Cruz 95-52 on Sunday.
The win was the second straight over an NCAA Division III team for LCSC and improved the NAIA's 11th-ranked club to 9-0 overall. LCSC defeated Menlo, La Verne, and Santa Cruz during its three-game road trip to California by an average of 29 points. LCSC's closest game this season is a nine-point win over No. 13-ranked Biola.
The Banana Slugs had all sorts of trouble with the Warriors. Santa Cruz committed 30 turnovers in the game, shot less than 30 percent from the field in both halves and were outrebounded by 16.
The Warriors wasted little time in taking control of the game as they raced out to a 14-3 lead with 15:22 left in the opening half. Junior All-American candidate Jasmine Stohr had 10 points during that stretch and wound up with a game-high 25 points in just 23 minutes of playing time.
Stohr, a 6-foot guard/forward, hit 8-of-13 shots from the field and 8-of-8 at the foul line. She also had six assists, four rebounds, and four steals. Stohr scored 14 points in the opening half.
The Warriors led by as much as 18 twice in the first half, but the Banana Slugs cut the margin to 43-29 at halftime.
A 3-pointer from Melody Barooni cut LCSC's lead to 48-36 early in the second half, but the Warriors scored the next 22 points as Santa Cruz went scoreless for nearly nine minutes. That helped LCSC open up a 70-36 advantage. Santa Cruz could get no closer than 29 points the rest of the way while LCSC led by as much as 46.
Freshman Jenni Noon had her best game as a Warrior with 14 points, while Kirsi Voshell and Alyssa Fierro had 11 points each. Fierro led the Warriors with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
All 12 LCSC players had at least one rebound in the game, while starting point guard Kenna Reiter was the only Warrior not to score. Only two Warriors failed to have a steal in the contest. No LCSC player saw more than 25 minutes of playing time.
The Warriors finished the game 33-of-61 from the field for 54.1 percent and were 7-of-20 at the 3-point line for 35 percent. The Warriors also were a solid 22-of-28 at the foul line for 78.6 percent.
LCSC's defense held Santa Cruz to 17-of-58 from the field for 29.3 percent, and 6-of-22 from the 3-point line for 27.3 percent. LCSC also had a 44-28 edge on the boards and blocked six shots in the game.
LCSC now returns home to play host to the three-team Warrior Invitational on Friday-Sunday. It was originally scheduled to be a four-team field, but one team dropped out.
Action starts on Friday night at 6 p.m. with Warner Pacific and LCSC. Great Falls and Warner Pacific meet Saturday at 5 p.m., while Great Falls and LCSC meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday in a non-Frontier Conference contest. The two meet later in the season twice in conference play.
For a box and play-by-play of Sunday's game, visit http://www.goslugs.com/teams/basketball/women/stats/2010-2011/lcs1205.htm
