LEWISTON, Idaho – With nine seconds remaining Kirsi Voshell hit a jumper near the top of the key to complete a stunning comeback win for the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team against Rocky Mountain College on Saturday night. Despite trailing for most of the game and by 11 with under 10 minutes to play, the Warriors finished on top of the Battlin’ Bears 65-61 at the Activity Center.
Rocky, with aggressive defense and a good night from the 3-point line, outdid LCSC for the first 30 minutes of play, but a shooting drought in the last 10 minutes was all the No. 10-ranked Warriors needed to catch up. After leading 58-47 with 9:32 left on the clock, the Bears failed to make a shot from the field for the rest of the game.
LCSC on the other hand made six of its last 11 shot attempts including a 3-point basket by freshman Loree Hill to cut the deficit to one and then a jumper by Tasha Bishop to give the Warriors’ their first lead of the second half 60-59 with 2:30 left in regulation.
From this point, Rocky responded with two free throws to pull back in front. Then, with just over a minute left, LCSC’s Jasmine Stohr drove, was fouled, and made 1-of-2 shots at the line to tie the game and setup Voshell’s go-ahead jump shot.
A couple timeouts after Voshell’s bucket, all hope for RMC flew out the window when Kenna Reiter came away with a steal. This forced the Bears to foul LC with less than a second on the clock. Bishop went to the line and sunk both free throws to seal the deal.
Making the comeback victory even more dramatic is the fact that the Warriors, 9-2 in league and 23-3 overall, now hold a share of first place in the Frontier Conference standings because of Carroll’s win over Westminster on Saturday. The Griffins were upset by a score of 58-54 at home.
LCSC outshot Rocky 41 to 38.1 percent on the night, but had to contend with the Bears’ 7-of-17 mark from the outside and active defense which came away with 12 steals.
A balanced attack for the Warriors, with a heavy emphasis on production from the bench, helped them get back into the game.
Voshell led the team with 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, her first double-double of the conference season. Bishop and Hill came off the bench to add 12 and 11 points respectively. Hill shot 4-of-5 from the field in reaching her highest point total thus far with LC.
Stohr finished with 10 points, four assists, and three steals; non-starter Nichole Miller had six points and a career-high nine rebounds; and Reiter added six points, seven boards, and three assists.
Rocky Mountain, which is now 4-6 and 11-14, was led by the 16 points of Austin Hanser and the 13 points and eight rebounds of Callie Kautzmann. Kautzmann also had three assists and four steals.
The Warriors are now riding a six-game winning streak, and improve to 12-0 at home this season.
With both teams tied at 9-2, next Saturday’s game at the Activity Center between LCSC and Westminster will give one team sole possession of first-place in the conference. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. and the game is designated as Senior Night. LCSC seniors Kenna Reiter, Madison Mendezona, Nichole Miller, and Lauren Daling will be honored prior to the game.
Click here to watch Voshell's go-ahead jumper
Click here to watch Voshell's go-ahead jumper
