LEWISTON, Idaho. – Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball coach Brian Orr expected his team to break some 3-point records on Saturday afternoon inside the Activity Center, but the Warriors won in a different fashion.
 
Winning without a 3-point field goal for the first time since January 19, 2012, LCSC went inside and played strong second half defense to move to 4-0 with an 86-43 victory over Trinity Western University.
 
The contest saw the Warriors leading by just nine points at halftime after making eight shots from the field in the opening 10 minutes. However, press defense suffocated the Spartans offense and LCSC outscored the team from Langley, British Columbia 49-15 in the second half to win going away.
 
"I said before the game 'we are going to break every 3-point record we have, never again'" said Orr. "We are going to put up and make plenty of 3s this season, but it wasn't meant to be tonight. Give [Trinity Western] a ton of credit, they came out with renewed energy and we didn't have an open look from three."
 
Instead, the Warriors looked inside, scoring 46 points in the paint and drawing 34 fouls that led to 43 free throws in the contest. LCSC build an early lead at the line, converting 17-of-18 freebies in the first quarter and 38-of-43 in the game, an 88.4 percent clip.
 
"When you are going to the line as much as we did tonight, the offense kind of struggles a bit," said Orr. "It's hard to find a rhythm on offense, but we survived a poor shooting night in the first half. We had a ton of shots and many open looks that just didn't fall for us. You hate to count on [free throws] but that was a big part of our offense last year and we are able to get to the line. We have really good free throw shooters, they put in the time and it's paying off for us."
 
Brittany Tackett opened the scoring with the first two of her game-high 16 points and TWU quickly answered. Caelyn Orlandi broke a 4-4 tie with the first of her 12 points for a 6-4 lead. The Spartans took their first lead of the contest at the 4:44 mark on a Kayla Gordon layup. Four LC free throws followed to put LC ahead for good. The Warriors went six minutes without a basket from the field until Jossilyn Blackman's layup at the 2:45 mark, part of a 13-0 LC run to end the first quarter up 27-12.
 
Jessie Brown opened the second quarter with four of her team-best 10 points to spark a 14-4 run by the Spartans. Sarah Buckingham drained a 3-pointer with 3:06 to play in the half to cut the margin to five, 31-26. Four Jansen Edmiston free throws ended the run and Tackett added a layup for a nine-point, 37-28 lead at the break.
 
"Some of our first half struggles were on me, we didn't press at all in the first half," said Orr. "I wanted to see how good our half-court defense was and the fact that we couldn't sustain a lead and build on it shows we still have work do to. But I credit our girls, they recognized that the 3-point shot wasn't available and that [Trinity Western] was vulnerable in the post with no backside help and we were able to capitalize in the second half."
 
The Warriors did just that, finding Tackett in the post for an easy basket to start the second half. Gordon answered with a basket of her own, but the LCSC press was too much for the Spartans. Lewis-Clark State forced nine turnovers in the quarter to propel them to a 28-8 run and put the game out of reach.
 
Megan Risinger followed Gordon's basket in the third quarter with a layup and sparked a 12-0 run, buoyed by four turnovers, to push the LC lead to 20, 50-30. After trading three baskets, LCSC ended the quarter on a 10-0 run that included going 8-for-10 from the charity stripe for a 65-36 advantage.
 
The relentless defense forced seven more turnovers in the final period, helping LC to a 49-15 scoring advantage in the second half, including a 21-7 mark in the final 10 minutes. In total, the Warriors netted 30 points on 31 Spartan turnovers.
 
"When we went to the press you could see it sparked our team," said Orr. "We get a lot out of it at both ends of the floor; it really gives us energy."
 
Six different Warriors scored in double figures led by Tackett's 16 to go with six rebounds. Orlandi and Edmiston each added 12 points while Brooke Litalien, Risinger and Blackman all scored 10. Hailey Turner grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with eight points.
 
"It's a nice feeling when you look down the bench and know you can play anybody at any time," said Orr. "When I'm subbing, it's not really based on what's happening on the floor as much as trying to find the right combinations and rotations that are working that game. We have many weapons and they all share the ball so well. It's a fun team to coach."
 
Lewis-Clark State finished the contest 24-of-61 (39.3%) from the field and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, but converted at the line. The defense limited Trinity Western to 17-of-51 (33.3%) from the floor and 3-of-16 (18.8%) from the 3-point arc. The Spartans made six of their 10 free throws.
 
The Warriors will take two weeks off before returning to action on Friday, Nov. 11 when they host 2015-16 NAIA Division II national runner-up and second-ranked Southern Oregon at 5 p.m. as part of the Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic. LCSC wraps up the classic on Saturday, Nov. 12 with a matchup against The College of Idaho at 5 p.m.