LEWISTON, Idaho. – The Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team showed their balance and versatility in a 109-49 rout of Trinity Western University at the LCSC Activity Center on Friday night.
 
The Warriors, who move to 3-0 on the season, put eight players in double figures while dishing out 26 assists on 36 made baskets and tallying 43 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive end. Lewis-Clark scored 20 points off 19 Spartan (1-4) turnovers while also getting 51 points off the bench.
 
Megan Risinger recorded the first double-double of the season for LC with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Brooke Litalien scored a game-high 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, all from beyond the 3-point arc. Jossilyn Blackman added 11 points and eight rebounds while Hailey Turner, Lauren Johnson, Jansen Edmiston, Natahnee Spencer and Brittany Tackett all scored at least 10 points.
 
"It's going to be a theme all year," said Warriors Head Coach Brian Orr when asked about the assist total. "We've got a lot of weapons all the way around and we work hard at trying to find the open player. We also had some many players in double digits, so much balance out there, that's what this team is."
 
The Warriors got off to a fast start, going 6-for-6 from the 3-point line in the first quarter. Five of the six 3's came in the opening three minutes as Caelyn Orlandi, Spencer, Risinger and Litalien each drained a three with the latter hitting two for an early 15-3 lead, including a 9-0 run.
 
Risinger and Blackman added to the lead with a pair of layups and Spencer got three the old-fashioned way to push the margin to 17, 22-5. Jessie Brown, who led the Spartans with 18 points, hit a three with a minute left in the opening quarter, but LC added four more points for a 32-13 lead.
 
The final two 3's of the first half in which LCSC went 8-for-9 from long range came from Risinger and Litalien as part of a 12 -2 run to open the second quarter and push the lead to 30, 45-15. Turner added two of her 14 points with 54 seconds left in the half to push the lead to a first half-high 40 points, 60-20.
 
"In the first half we had a lot of open looks and we have a lot of players on the court who have the green light," said Orr. "It was great to see us be so successful early on and to click offensively the way we did. I thought Trinity Western did a better job in the second half of taking [the three] away from us, especially in transition, they were there on the catch."
After shooting nearly 70 percent from the field and 89 percent from the three-point arc in the first half, the Warriors cooled off, shooting 41 percent from the floor in the second half. The Spartans improved their shooting from the field, but struggled from the arc. In all LCSC totaled 13 three-pointers compared to just four for Trinity Western.
 
After a lull in the third quarter in which LCSC won 19-15, the Warriors opened it back up in the fourth, outscoring the visitors 30-12 in the final 10 minutes.
 
"We wanted to attack the basket more in the second half and look for the post if we couldn't get a three in transition," said Orr. "We cooled off a bit in the second half and they were better offensively, but I thought our defense was pretty good. Jossilyn and Megan were big on the boards tonight and our post play is key to our development this year."
 
The Warriors finished the contest 36-for-66 from the field (54.5%) and 13-for-20 (65%) from beyond the arc while converting 20-of-24 free throw attempts. The defense limited the Spartans to 37 percent (20-for-54) from the floor and 30 percent (4-for-13) from long range.
 
The two teams will face off again tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. The Warriors then have two weeks off before hosting the Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic Nov. 11-12.