SPOKANE – The Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team withstood a strong outside attack to pick up a win against Whitworth University on Saturday afternoon. Aided by strong offensive efforts by seniors Jasmine Stohr and Kirsi Voshell in the second half, the Warriors took down the Pirates by a final score of 79-72.
The means the Warriors, ranked No. 4 in the NAIA, improve to 10-1 on the year, while Whitworth, an NCAA Division III squad, drops to 4-7.
“We didn’t defend or rebound as well as we should have, but we found a way to win,” said LCSC head coach Brian Orr. “You have to credit Whitworth. I think you have to be a pretty good team to win on the road against them today.”
The Pirates came at LCSC with an intense barrage from the outside, shooting 40 attempts from 3-point territory and making 13 of them.
“Their whole plane was to attack with penetration dribble and then kick it out to shoot threes,” said Orr. “The big problem for us was that when they weren’t making the shots they got offensive rebounds.”
Whitworth went 7-of-20 from the outside to hold LC’s lead to just 38-36 at halftime, and use offensive rebounds and 16 second chance points to keep the game relatively close throughout the second half. LCSC finished with a 42-32 edge in total rebounds, however, Whitworth had an 18-8 lead in offensive boards.
Also causing trouble for the Warriors was ball control as the team gave up 20 turnovers which led to Whitworth’s 20-12 edge in points scored off of miscues.
Lewis-Clark State overcame its shortcomings with a very strong effort on offense including a 53.8 percent shooting mark from the field and a 94.1 percentage at the foul line (16-of-17).
Stohr led the team with 22 points to go with four assists and three steals; Voshell added her fourth consecutive double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds; and Tasha Bishop had 14 points, five boards, and three assists. Stohr was 9-of-13 from the field, and Voshell was 8-of-9.
“Jasmine got us going in the second half with some drives to the basket and finishes. We were also able to get the ball to Kirsi on the inside, and that helped.”
After a tight first half, the Warriors went on an 8-0 run midway through the second half to create a somewhat more comfortable lead at 56-47 with 12:02 left in regulation. The lead held around 10 points for the remainder of the game with LC grabbing its largest lead of 12, 75-63, with 1:47 left on the clock.
LCSC would have ended the game with a double-digit lead if not for 3-pointer by Emily Guthrie right at the final buzzer.
Guthrie finished with 15 points on 5-of-12 attempts from the outside. Lexi Belcher led the Pirates with 20 points, and Lauren Picha added 11.
Thanks to six on the offensive end, Kayla Johnson topped Whitworth with 10 rebounds. Alyssa Fierro was second in rebounding for LCSC with nine.
As for assists, Guthrie and LCSC’s Brittany Niebergall had six apiece. Niebergall also had nine points.
The Warriors will return to action on Sunday with a 2 p.m. game at home against Whitman University. LCSC narrowly defeated Whitman 65-61 on the road earlier this season.
