LEWISTON, Idaho – Senior Brooke Litalien scored a career-high 23 points and fellow senior guard Caelyn Orlandi tallied 10 assists as the Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team won their season opener with an 88-48 win over the University of Fraser Valley.
 
Playing in front of nearly 500 fans as part of Homecoming weekend at the LCSC Activity Center on Friday, the Warriors didn't disappoint in moving to 1-0 on the 2016-17 season. The Cascades fall to 3-5 overall.
 
"For the first game, and the few practices we've had, I'm really happy with how everyone got in the game and contributed in a positive way," said Warriors Head Coach Brian Orr. "There's so much balance on this team."
 
To Orr's point, all 10 players scored for LC with Litalien's 25 a team-high while Brittany Tackett and newcomer Lauren Johnson each added 12 points. Orlandi tallied double figure assists for the fifth time in her career to go with seven points and Tackett grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
 
"We had the attack mentality most of the night and that's what we want," said Orr. "We shared the ball really well and I thought Goose [Caelyn Orlandi] was really good at sharing the ball and finding the open player and of course Brooke had a career-night."
 
It was all LC early as the Warriors outscored Fraser Valley 24-3 in the first quarter and never looked back. Orlandi got the scoring started with a 3-pointer on the opening possession and then went coast-to-coast for a five-point advantage. Litalien added five points and Natahnee Spencer netted four of her nine points to help LCSC build an 18-0 lead. A Johnson free throw, Jossilyn Blackman layup and Litalien three closed out the opening quarter.
 
After an impressive opening 10 minutes, the Warriors struggled in the second quarter, making just seven baskets as the Cascades won the quarter 19-16. Johnson drained her second three of the game to push the margin to 26, 33-7, but a nine point run by UFV cut the lead to 17. A pair of Sam Runkle baskets before the half made it 41-22 LCSC.
 
"We kind of went into a lull offensively and [Fraser Valley] fought back," said Orr. "We had a few breakdowns defensively and they were able to get the ball in the high post and exploit that several times in the first half, especially there in the second quarter. We kind of just lost our aggressiveness and intensity after we got the lead."
 
The offense got rolling again early in the third as LCSC used a 12-2 run to push the lead to 29, 53-24. All seven of Megan Risinger's points came in the run as she took over with a layup, a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer.
 
In the fourth, another large run (18-2) by the Warriors pushed the lead to a game-high 41 points. Litalien added nine points in the spurt to cap a career night.
 
The LC bench showed its depth in the win, outscoring the Cascades 30-5 while LCSC also dominated in points off turnovers, turning 16 steals into 38 points.
 
Lewis-Clark State finished the night 34-for-69 (49.3%) from the field and 11-for-22 (50%) from the 3-point arc while converting 60 percent (9-for-15) of their free throws. The defense limited the Cascades to 37.5 percent shooting (18-for-48) including a 2-for-16 (12.5%) performance from three.
 
The two teams will meet again on Saturday, Oct. 22 with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. It's dollar day for Warrior athletics, with all tickets, popcorn, hot dogs and Pepsi just one dollar all day. The Homecoming festivities begin at 11 AM with the baseball scrimmage followed by the women's basketball and wrapping up with the men's game at 4 p.m.