LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team outscored its opponent 37-24 in the second half. Unfortunately for the Warriors though, there are two halves in a game of basketball. LCSC scored just 13 points in the opening half and fell to Montana State University-Northern 60-50 at the Activity Center on Saturday night.
The Warriors made only 4-of-29 shots from the field before halftime.
“The first half we were just dribble, dribble, dribble,” said LCSC head coach Brian Orr. “We didn’t move the ball and find the open player.”
LCSC hit halftime with only two assists and a 23-point deficit, 36-13, as the Skylights sailed with a 50 percent shooting clip.
In the second half, Lewis-Clark State awoke to make 14-of-28 attempts, but the damage had already been done and MSU-Northern spent most of the final half just trying to run the clock.
The loss moves LCSC, which defeated the Skylights 78-76 in double-overtime on the road last week, to 6-17 overall and 3-6 in the Frontier Conference. MSU-Northern is now 13-8 and 5-4 and stand tied for third in the league standings.
Senior forward Jordan Bruursema led the Skylights with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Nikki Tresch added 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the outside.
MSU-Northern ended up outshooting the Warriors 43.1 to 31.6 percent, and went 9-for-19 from the outside.
Ornela Bacchini, who led with 28 points in the team’s double-overtime win, topped the Warriors with 15 points, 13 of them coming in the second half. Shelby Barnes was the only other Warrior to score in double figures as she added 10 points and had a team-high six rebounds.
Like their offense, the Warriors’ defense also steadily improved as the game went along. LCSC forced Northern into 13 turnovers in the second half and 20 on the night, and finished with an 18-8 advantage in points scored off of turnovers.
“Obviously, we have to play a lot better defense than what we did in the first half.”
Next week the Warriors have just one game and it will be one of their toughest assignments of the season. LCSC will face No. 5-ranked Westminster on Saturday, and it will do it on the road in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Griffins are 19-2 overall with a spotless 8-0 mark in league play.
“Hopefully we just put tonight behind us and move forward,” said Orr. “We’re going to play the top team on their home court. We have to be ready to play.”
