LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team used a 15-2 scoring run over the final six minutes to defeat Carroll College at the Activity Center on Saturday night. The Warriors overcame a 26-24 deficit at halftime to win by a final score of 65-51.
The win moves the No. 6-ranked Warriors to 17-2 overall and 3-1 in the Frontier Conference, while Carroll goes to 7-9 and 0-3.
It took a total team effort as three Warriors scored in double-digits and Alyssa Fierro wasn’t far behind with nine points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Warriors took their first lead of the second half at around the 15-minute mark and from here the score went back and forth for the next ten minutes. With LCSC up 50-49 and 5:53 left in regulation the Warriors went into overdrive and left the Saints in the dust.
The rally began with back-to-back steals and fast-break points by Brittaney Niebergall and Kirsi Voshell. Niebergall, a 5-foot-3 guard, had a theft near the sideline and a quick sprint down the length of the floor for the score, and then Voshell, a 6-foot-3 post, matched the feat with an interception near half court and a drive all the way to the bucket.
From here the Warriors just kept adding on thanks to smothering defense and a 7-of-8 streak at the foul line in the final two minutes.
Voshell led the game with 15 points. She also had eight rebounds and three blocks, including a key swat in the final minutes. Tanis Fuller finished with 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals, and Tasha Bishop had 13 points, three assists, and three steals.
Bishop spearheaded the Warriors’ offense in the second half as she scored all of her points and went 3-for-3 from 3-point range after the break. LCSC ended up 7-of-17 from the outside, while the Saints made 5-of-16 attempts from deep.
The Warriors trailed by six late in the first half, but a 3-pointer by Kelli Rice a couple seconds before the buzzer made it a two-point game at the half.
Overall, the Warriors outshot the Saints 45.1 percent to 40.7 percent, and had a 28-22 lead in points in the paint.
Playing in its first game without scoring leader Jasmine Stohr, who is out for 6-10 weeks with a MCL sprain suffered in Thursday’s game against Rocky Mountian, the Warriors relied heavily on their defensive abilities.
LCSC committed just three less turnovers than the Saints, 15 to 18, but did a lot better job of taking advantage of the miscues. The Warriors had a 23-8 lead in points off of turnovers, and a 16-8 edge in fast-break points.
Niebergall had her hand in a lot of the fast-break scoring efforts as she finished with four points, six assists, and two steals.
Carroll was led by Kalee Junkermeier and Bailey Snelling who had 12 and nine points, respectively. Four Saints finished with five rebounds or more which helped Carroll hold a 33-32 edge in total boards.
