Even with all the success that Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball coach Brian Orr has accomplished in his 10 years at the Warrior helm, he still gets anxious when his players talk about their national tournament goals.

Sure, they’re allowed to talk about those goals during the goal-setting sessions prior to the season, but if was up to him, it would end there until the tournament actually rolled around.

However, when the topic of LCSC women’s basketball is raised, it’s easy to see why national tournaments are mentioned.  The Warriors are one of the top NAIA programs in the country and expectations – and goals – are high for this season.

Orr stands 17th on the NAIA’s active women’s basketball coaches’ win list with 258 victories in 10 seasons for an average of nearly 26 victories a year. That win total leads to postseason opportunities and the Warriors are an annual fixture at the 32-team national tournament as they have qualified in 15 of the past 16 seasons.

For the past five consecutive years, LCSC has won either the Frontier Conference’s regular-season or tournament title. The team has averaged 11 wins during a 14-game conference schedule and has won the conference’s automatic berth to national four straight years with the FC tournament title.

The impressive list goes on. In four of the last five seasons, LCSC has won at least 29 games, including 29 in each of the past two seasons. The team also has reached the Sweet 16 round at nationals in five of the past six seasons.

This year, the Warriors have another target square on their backs. LCSC returns three four-year starters, including the conference’s co-Player of the Year last year in Jasmine Stohr, along with posts Kirsi Voshell and Alyssa Fierro, who are rewriting the league and program shot-blocking records. Voshell was a first-team all-league performer last year while Fierro was a second-team member. They were also the team’s top three scorers and rebounders last season and combined for nearly 40 points and 20 rebounds a game.

Add in some other key returners and a strong freshman class, and a No. 5 ranking in the NAIA preseason poll, and there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic. Also, LCSC defeated last year’s national champion Azusa Pacific by 10 points during the regular season in California.

All this makes it is easy to see why the team’s four seniors spent a few minutes at a preseason media conference talking about their goals for the year and winning a national championship.  And why Orr was shaking his head.

“I get a little fearful speaking about national championships like they are,” Orr cautioned. “I’ve never been there (playing for the title). We’ve never been there. I don’t like talking about it right now because we are worried about our next practice. How hard we can work and how much we can improve in one day. So that’s our focus.”

Still, Orr admits with all that LCSC has going, “it’s extremely hard not to have high expectations.”

“What I like about this team is the leadership. I look at these seniors when they were freshmen and we knew we had a unique class. We have a lot of other good things going for us as well, but we did lose our point guard and top defender from last year.”

LC graduated four seniors from a year ago, including point guard Kenna Reiter, who was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. The Warriors have different options at the point, starting with 5-foot-3 true freshman Brittaney Niebergall of Portland. She was Oregon’s Class 4A Player of the Year last season after being the 2A Player of the Year as a junior.

“She’s hard to describe,” Orr said. “She has a chance to be one of the best point guards to ever play here. She has tremendous court sense and excellent skills. She is a scoring point guard who can also find the open player. She's a tremendous competitor who plays every possession like it’s the last one.”

Also at the point is junior Annie Kane of Lapwai, who Orr said has made the biggest strides of anyone from last year.

“She is providing great leadership and has really improved her game,” Orr said. “She understands her strengths. She has developed into an excellent shooter. She’s a 3-point threat and she also had a mid-range game. She’s playing more aggressively and is making a lot better decisions with the basketball.”

If needed, the Warriors can also move the versatile Stohr, a 6-footer from Yakima, Wash., to the point. Stohr could probably play all five positions and is a scoring threat from each spot. Last season she finished with 614 points, third best on the program’s single-season list. She’s currently fifth on the all-time list and could challenge for the top spot when all is said and done.

“I have never seen anyone improve every offseason at a higher rate than she has,” Orr said. “She attends a variety of camps and is always trying to get better. She has earned every accolade she has received.”

Stohr earned first-team all-Women’s Basketball Coaches Association honors last season. She has been a first-team all-league selection all three seasons and has earned five conference Player of the Week honors.

“The one thing I told her is that she needs to be in great shape this season because we are going to try to utilize her in a variety of positions. We are going to take advantage of her strengths, and she does a lot of things extremely well on the floor.”

Stohr will likely be the starter at the off-guard position and will be backed up by Kelli Rice, a 5-9 freshman from Lowell, Ore.

“Kelli has really started to show signs that she is going to have a successful freshman campaign,” Orr said. “She is a great 3-point shooter with deep range and a lightning quick release.

“The other thing with Kelli is that she played point guard the last two years in high school and we’re confident when she’s handling because she sees the floor so well. She also has the ability to get the ball to the basket.”

The Warriors also have options at the wing position with 5-10 senior Tasha Bishop of Meridian, and 6-2 sophomore Loree Hill of Liberty Lake. Bishop led the team in 3-pointers last season with 34 and averaged 5.0 points for the second straight season.

“And I think Tasha has come back even better than she was last year,” Orr said. “She’s playing with more confidence and a more aggressive spirit – on the defensive end especially. She’s worked hard on fully developing her game and putting the ball on the floor. She’s always been our quiet leader, a leader by example. And she may very well be our best athlete.”

Hill, who will also see time at the forward position, had a solid freshman season. She averaged 3.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 12 minutes of playing time per game.

“Some people may be surprised by this but she is arguably our best perimeter shooter,” Orr said. “She’s also improved her ball-handling skills, passing skills, and her ability to make it to the free-throw line by taking the ball to the basket. And we are pushing her to be more aggressive on the defensive end.”

Also in the mix at the wing/forward position is freshman Tanis Fuller of Lewiston. However, her progress in the preseason has been slowed by an injury that kept her out of action for more than a week.

“Tanis’ biggest strength is her competitive spirit,” Orr said. “She plays with a competitive chip on her shoulder. She’s an aggressive rebounder, and a hard working defender. Offensively she has the ability to make things happen, especially off the dribble in transition.  She has a soft touch and a knack for scoring.”

Underneath, the Warriors have the two senior posts in 6-3 Voshell from Pullman, Wash., and 6-2 Fierro from Bigfork, Mont. Fierro is the program’s all-time leader in blocked shots at 167 and is second in career rebounds at 764. Voshell is second in blocks at 157 and fourth in rebounds at 722.

“Alyssa is playing as good as I’ve seen her play,” Orr said. “She is dominating the boards on both ends. Her timing on when to post and her foot work inside have never been better. She’s become a better playmaker because she playing with pace and consequently she is finishing better.”

“Kirsi put a lot of time in the weight room during the summer and came back in tremendous shape. She set extremely high goals for herself and we fully expect her to accomplish them.  The work in the weight room is most visible with her footwork. She is just so long and against a lot of opponents her length is just overwhelming.”

Orr said the team’s shotblocking ability can’t be overstated. Along with all the blocks comes an intimidation factor, which Orr regularly sees. After having a couple of shots blocked, opponents will alter their shots or be intimidated to shoot at all.  That’s why with the versatility of the team, Orr has the option of going with Voshell (6-3), Fierro (6-2), Hill (6-2), Stohr (6-0), and Bishop (5-10), which would compose one if not the tallest lineup in the conference.

Also in the post will be 6-1 freshman McKenzie Heaslet from Uniontown, Wash. Orr says by going up against the two seniors every day in practice, Heaslet has been improving at a steady rate.

“She has the ability to run the floor,” Orr said. “She has great hands, the ability to catch and finish on the run.  She can also make plays with her back to the basket, as well as shoot the 3.”

Shelby Barnes, a sophomore guard from Asotin, Wash., will redshirt this season and be a sophomore eligibility wise for 2012-13.

“This team’s chemistry is really special,” Orr said. “And I like our intensity in practice.  Specifically, we are going to hang our hat on our defense. One accomplishment in the past two seasons is that we have set two consecutive defensive field goal percentage records, and with that same nucleus back, I feel fairly confident we can play at that same level this season.

“Offensively, I think we are going to have great balance inside and out, and we’ll need it because of the gimmick defenses we will face,” Orr said. “Last year we saw teams use box-and-1 and other things to try to stop Jasmine. But we have the balance we need to counter that.”

The Warriors play a tough schedule again this season with exhibition games against Montana and Washington State. LCSC also plays Azusa Pacific again in California and then against Bethel University of Tennessee in the opening round of a tournament in Las Vegas in late December. Azusa Pacific is ranked No. 1 in the NAIA preseason poll while Bethel is ranked No. 6.

“The key for us is to stay focused on the moment,” Orr said. “To simply work as hard as we can today, and then do the same thing tomorrow.  To win any titles, you have to start there.”

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