LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team picked up a win in its first official game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors, ranked No. 5 in the NAIA preseason poll, took down a pesky Warner Pacific College 72-63.
Senior Jasmine Stohr, a first-team WBCA All-American selection last season, led the Warriors with 25 points, and fellow senior Alyssa Fierro added a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The game was far from a pushover for LCSC as the Knights, an NAIA Division II program, hustled their way to a 38-35 advantage in rebounds and were able to keep the Warriors’ lead at less than 10 for most of the way.
“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” said LCSC head coach Brian Orr, now in his 11th season at the helm. “I was really impressed with Warner Pacific today. They’re a handful.”
Warner Pacific, now 0-1 on the year, was able to take a one point lead, 49-48, about seven minutes into the second half thanks, in part, to an 18-10 advantage in second chance points. Both teams finished with 18 offensive rebounds apiece.
Orr was quick to note that his team still has some work to do to knock off its off-season rust.
“We need to practice. We need some time on this floor,” said Orr bluntly. “We did do a better job in the second half though.”
The Warriors led 37-31 at the half after committing nine turnovers and shooting just 3-of-14 from the 3-point line. In the second half, LCSC was able to cut its turnovers to three and improve its outside shooting to 5-for-9.
Overall, the Warriors shot 45 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from behind the arc. Probably where the off-season rust showed itself most was at the foul line as the Warriors made just 10-of-21 attempts.
“Free throw shooting is confidence more than anything else,” said Orr. “Once we get our confidence going I know we’ll be a good free throw shooting team.”
Kirsi Voshell was second on the team in scoring as she dropped in 13 points and also had two blocks. Tasha Bishop also looked good as she finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and collected six rebounds.
Incoming freshman Brittaney Neibergall, a 5-foot-3 guard, made her debut for the Warriors starting at the point and ended up with a game-high eight assists and six steals. Stohr was second in steals with five.
The Warriors had a 15-5 edge in steals which led to an 18-7 advantage in points scored off of turnovers and a 12-6 advantage in fast break points.
The Knights shot 41.7 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from the outside (4-of-18). They were led by 16 points from Nichole Jackson, 15 from Cameryn Calhoun, and 12 from Kelsey Mattsen.
Lewis-Clark State’s schedule has them playing three games in three consecutive days. On Sunday, the Warriors will head to Washington State University for a 1 p.m. tilt, and then they’ll return to the Activity Center for a 5:30 p.m. game on Monday against Walla Walla University.
“Anytime you get a chance to play a Division I school you find out a lot about your team,” said Orr about facing the NCAA Cougars. “It’s important to have these kind of games, and it will be a great challenge for us.”
