DILLON, Mont. – After a 14-point loss in its last outing to end 2011, the University of Montana Western women’s basketball team was looking to rebound to start 2012.
And rebound it did.
Dominating the boards, which is usually a strength of Lewis-Clark State, the Bulldogs rolled over the NAIA’s fourth-ranked Warriors 73-53 in the Frontier Conference opener for both teams on Friday night.
Montana Western, 11-3 overall, ended its non-conference play with an 81-67 loss to Bethel a week ago. That’s the same Bethel team LCSC defeated two nights earlier 66-58.
The Bulldogs, however, used a dominating performance on the boards and a solid defensive effort to shut down the Warriors and hand LCSC only its second loss of the season. The Warriors are now 14-2 overall.
The key stat in the game was Montana Western’s 55-38 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs managed to do this again a Warrior squad ranked No.2 in the NAIA in defensive rebounding team and No. 4 in total rebounds (47.8 per game). LCSC also was fifth in the NAIA in rebounding advantage, normally outrebounding its opponents by 11.8 per game.
UMW basically dominated every phase of the game and never trailed on the night. The Bulldogs got off to a solid start, aided by a cold night shooting by LCSC, to grab a 9-1 lead in the opening four minutes.
Jasmine Stohr scored the Warriors’ first bucket from the field at the 15:54 mark of the half to make it 9-3, but a 6-0 Bulldog run made it 15-3.
UMW eventually built the margin to 14 at 24-10, but LCSC finally got something going and went on a 19-8 run to cut the margin to 32-29 with a little more than a minute remaining. The Bulldogs managed a bucket in the final minute to make it 34-29 at halftime.
LCSC, however, couldn’t get things going in the second half and went more than six minutes without scoring from the field, which enabled the Bulldogs to push the lead back to double digits.
Western then outscored LCSC 12-2 during the final 6:36 of the contest.
LCSC finished the game at just 20-of-64 from the field for 31.3 percent, easily its lowest shooting percentage of the season. Included in the mark was a 3-of-24 performance (12.5 percent) from the 3-point line. LCSC also was just 10-of-19 at the foul line.
Western finished the game 27-of-62 for 43.6 percent, which included a 6-of-15 mark at the 3-point line (40 percent).
LCSC’s defense did come up with 18 turnovers, including 10 steals.
Stohr, a senior guard/forward, was the only Warrior in double figures with 15 points. Senior post Alyssa Fierro added nine points and eight boards, while Kirsi Voshell, Tasha Bishop, and Brittaney Niebergall had eight points apiece.
Western was led by post Hailey Bennett, who finished with game-highs of 18 points and 17 rebounds. Nicole Tams and Sammi Bignell added 15 points apiece.
Western’s bench outscored the Warrior bench 20-5 in the contest and the Bulldogs also had a 32-29 scoring advantage in the paint.
The Warriors will try to get back on track Saturday night when they tangle with Montana Tech in Butte, Mont. Tipoff is at 4:30 p.m., PST.
