LEWISTON, ID – Trevecca Nazarene’s Christina Curtner drove into the lane for a go-ahead layup with 10 seconds left, and the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team could not answer as the Trojans went on to win 60-58 in the second of four games in the Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic at the Activity Center.

The Warriors (0-5), aiming for their first win of the season in their first home contest on Friday, got the ball across halfcourt with three seconds to go and called timeout to set up a potential game-winning play.
Tanis Fuller inbounded the ball to Shelby Barnes, but LCSC could not get a shot off as the clock expired.

“I have to give Trevecca a lot of credit,” Warrior coach Brian Orr said. “They played great defense down the stretch, and we didn’t execute. We thought we had something for crunch time, but they got what they wanted.”

Senior guard Annie Kane, pressed into service at the point with Brittaney Niebergall still sidelined with a knee injury, had a career night in what turned out to be a losing effort.

The Lapwai native had a career-best 22 points, obliterating her previous high of nine, on 7-for-9 shooting. Kane made 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, including a step-back beauty to give the Warriors the lead back with 2:14 to play.

“It was the best game of Annie’s career, by far,” Orr said. “She was strong with the ball against tremendous pressure, and she’s really risen to the occasion after we told her she wasn’t going to play much at the point.”

Kane’s final 3-pointer put LCSC up 57-55, but Trevecca cut the lead to 57-56 when Heather Miller made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:32 remaining. The Trojans went up by one on their next possession, as Kayla Biles put back a Curtner miss with 41.8 ticks on the clock.

Trevecca grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the second half, and finished the game with 21 second-half points.

“I thought we were a rebound away, a stop away from winning this game,” Orr said. “Some of the deal with rebounding is effort, and it’s an area that we know we have to do a better job. We looked a little fatigued down the stretch when every possession is critical in a fight like this.”

After Biles’ bucket, Kane got tied up in the lane and made 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game at 58 with 33.4 seconds, but Curtner was able to elude the Warrior defense for the winning hoop.

LCSC built momentum going into locker room at halftime, closing the first half on a 5-0 run thanks to a 3-pointer by Kane and a run-out layup by Barnes after a steal by freshman Caitlin Carr. The Warriors led by as many as nine early in the second half, and maintained the advantage for the majority of the period until the Trojans rallied late.

Barnes finished with 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting, and Ornela Bacchini tacked on eight points and eight rebounds as LCSC shot 46.7 percent from the floor in the game.

Curtner had 12 points to lead Trevecca, which shot just 31.3 percent from the field in the game and went 9-for-32 in the first half.

The Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic continues on Saturday as Trevecca Nazarene squares off with College of Idaho at 3:30 p.m.

The Coyotes beat New Hope Christian 68-55 in the opening game on Friday. Lewis-Clark State will face the Deacons at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.