FULLERTON, Calif. - Junior Tasha Bishop scored a career-high 21 points to help the No. 3-ranked Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team defeat Hope International University 71-59 in game 11 of the Biola Holiday Classic on Wednesday.
The Warriors, 13-1 overall, improved to 2-0 in the 13-team three-day tournament that features a pre-determined schedule. LCSC concludes play on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. against The Master's College, which is also 2-0 in tournament play.
Bishop, a 5-foot-10 guard from Meridian, Idaho, came off the bench to score in double figures for the second night in a row. She had 14 points in LCSC's 72-62 win over No. 8-ranked Azusa Pacific on Tuesday night.
In Wednesday's contest, Bishop continued her strong shooting. She hit 8-of-14 shots from the field, including 4-of-7 from the 3-point line. She also was 1-of-1 at the foul line to lead all players with 21 points. Her previous scoring high at LCSC was 19 last season.
Bishop's first points of the game gave LCSC the lead when she connected on a 3-pointer at the 13:24 mark of the first half for a 10-8 Warrior lead. It also completed a 10-2 Warrior run as the Royals, 9-4 overall, came out and took a quick 6-0 lead.
Bishop gave the Warriors another shot in the arm when she sank another 3-pointer at the 11:22 mark to put the Warriors ahead for good at 13-12.
The two 3-pointers by Bishop started a run where she scored 16 of LCSC's 20 points over an eight minute stretch. Her final bucket during the run put the Warriors ahead 27-22.
he rest of the Warriors joined in to put the team up by as much as 14 in the opening half before LCSC settled for a 36-29 lead at intermission.
Bishop had 16 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 at the 3-point line.
In the second half, the Royals were able to cut the lead to three points twice, the final time at the 15:37 mark, but LCSC responded with a 13-2 run for a 53-39 lead. Bishop had all five of her second-half points during that run, while juniors Jasmine Stohr and Alyssa Fierro had four points apiece.
Hope International cut the margin to seven with a little less than three minutes left in the game, but Stohr scored four points and LCSC made some free throws down the stretch to hold off the comeback.
Stohr also finished in double figures for LCSC with 18 points and added three steals, while Fierro had a solid all-around game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, five blocked shots and a steal. Kirsi Voshell almost had a double-double as well with a game-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points, two blocks, and two steals.
Senior guard Kenna Reiter added eight rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.
For the game, LCSC hit 24-of-53 sots for 45.3 percent, including 5-of-11 at the 3-point line for 45.5 percent. LCSC also was solid at the foul line with an 18-of-21 effort, 85.7 percent.
Hope International, which was led by Champ Hood's 18 points, finished the game 21-of-73 from the field for 28.8 percent, including just 9-of-39 in the second half for 23.1 percent. The Royals were only 3-of-15 at the 3-point line for 20 percent.
The Warriors held a small 45-43 rebounding edge, but had 24 turnovers in the contest to 15 for Hope.
Thursday's contest against The Master's is LCSC's final nonconference contest of the season. LCSC opens Frontier Conference play on Jan. 6 at home against the University of Montana Western at 6 p.m. at the LCSC Activity Center.
