LEWISTON, Idaho – All five starters for the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team scored in the first three minutes of the second half to help the Warriors go on a 10-2 run and take the lead for good in a 73-61 triumph over Northwest Nazarene at the LCSC Activity Center on Thursday night.
The Warriors, ranked 11th in the NAIA preseason poll, improved to 2-0 on the season while Northwest Nazarene, an NCAA Division II school, was playing in its season opener.
The contest matched two athletic teams that like to run, but Northwest Nazarene was able to get the upper hand early and grabbed a 33-29 halftime lead.
The Warriors, however, came out hot in the second half and all five starters scored to help the Warriors take a 39-35 advantage. LCSC then used an 8-0 run a little later in the half to go up 51-39 with 13:10 left.
“I was so nervous all day because I knew it was going to be a battle,” LCSC coach Brian Orr said. “And it was, but at the same time I knew our shots were going to start falling.”
LCSC eventually led by as much as 19 twice in the final two minutes of the game, but NNU was able to score the game’s final seven points for the final.
Warrior junior Jasmine Stohr scored 13 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to help the Warriors shoot better than 51.4 percent in the final 20 minutes. Stohr, a 6-foot guard/forward from Yakima, Wash., moved closer to becoming the 12th Warrior ever to score 1,000 points in a career. With her effort, Stohr now has 998 points, Rosie Albert, who played at LCSC during 1994-98, is the all-time leader with 2,276 points, while Kendra West, who played during 2001-05, is 11th on the list with 1,122 points.
Stohr had a strong night all around. She was 8-of-16 from the field and 8-of-9 at the foul line. She also had six rebounds, five steals, four assists, and two blocked shots.
The Warrior had four starters in double figures and combined to score all but eight of the team’s points. Senior point guard Kenna Reiter and junior post Alyssa Fierro had 12 points each, while junior post Kirsi Voshell added 10 points. Lauren Daling finished with seven. Fierro had a tea-high seven rebounds, while Voshell and Reiter added six. Reiter also had four assists, two blocks and a steal. Voshell led the team with three blocks as the Warriors finished with eight swats.
Both teams used pressure defense to create offense. LCSC forced 22 turnovers and had a 19-18 advantage in points off turnovers. NNU forced 20 turnovers.
“I thought toward the end of the first half, our defense picked up the pace,” Orr said. “And we had players step up and make plays.”
The big difference, especially in the second half, came in the paint. LCSC scored 34 of its 44 second-half points in the paint and held a 50-34 scoring advantage down low.
For the game, LCSC finished 25-of-56 from the field for 44.6 percent, and was 22-of-31 at the foul line. NNU was 24-of-66 from the field for 36.4 percent (10-of-30 in the second half for 33. 3 percent) and 10-of-15 at the foul line. LCSC had a small 40-39 rebounding edge.
Briaunna King led NNU with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Monica Garcia also had 12 points, along with five assists and three steals. Heather Adams finished with 11 points and four assists.
The Warriors return to action Friday night as they will take on the University of Idaho in an exhibition contest at Memorial Gym. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
