BUTTE, Mont. - Senior point guard Kenna Reiter scored 14 of her career-high 22 points during the opening nine minutes of the second half to help power the Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team past Montana Tech 79-57 in Frontier Conference play on Friday night.
The win gives LCSC, ranked No. 10 in the NAIA, its 19th straight season of at least 20 wins. The streak started during coach Mike Divilbiss' sixth season in 1992-93 and he led the Warriors to 20-plus wins for nine straight seasons and current coach Brian Orr has reached that milestone in all 10 of his seasons.
Friday's performance was one of the best for the Warriors, 6-2 in league and 20-3 overall, this season and came against a Montana Tech team that received votes in last week's NAIA poll. Montana Tech fell to 4-4 in league and 15-8 overall.
LCSC took control early and led 19-9 with 12 minutes remaining and led by as much as 14 in the first half before it settled for a 39-31 halftime lead. Reiter, whose previous high was 19 points during her sophomore season, hit double digits scoring for the seventh time this season with her hot second-half performance.
The 5-foot-8 senior from Central Point, Ore., scored eight points in the first four minutes of the second half as LCSC used a 21-8 run to open up a 60-39 advantage. She later added a buck as LCSC went up by its largest lead of the nighta t 67-43 with 10:04 left.
The Orediggers couldn't get closer than 20 the rest of the way as the Warriors claimed their third straight win. Reiter had seven field goals in the second half, which matched Tech's total field goals in the final 20 minutes
Reiter, who entered the game averaging 7.9 points per contest, finished the game 9-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-2 at the 3-point line. She also was 2-of-2 at the foul line and had six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Reiter led a balanced Warrior attack that saw six players scored at least seven points. Junior Jasmine Stohr, the team's leading scorer on the season, finished with 15 points, while Alyssa Fierro had nine points along with a team-high seven rebounds. Nicole Miller and Lauren Daling had eight points, while Kirsi Voshell added seven, all in the first half. Voshell and Daling also joined Reiter with six rebounds.
The Warriors finished the game 32-of-62 from the field for 51.6 percent accuracy. LCSC also was 6-of-15 at the 3-point line for 40 percent, and 9-of-11 at the foul line. Montana Tech finished just 18-of-58 (31 percent)from the field, including 2-of-14 at the 3-point line. The Orediggers did hit 19-of-25 free throws.
LCSC remains one game behind league-leading Westminster in the conference standings and now has a two-game lead over both Carroll and Montana Tech for second place. The Warriors wrap up the road trip Saturday by taking on Montana Western in Dillon, Mont., at 4:30 p.m.
