LEWISTON, Idaho – Two early runs followed by solid play on both ends of the court helped the No. 2-ranked Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team remain undefeated with a 96-57 win over Montana Tech in Frontier Conference play at the LCSC Activity Center on Friday night.
 
In front of the largest crowd of the season estimated at 1,500, the Warriors pushed their win streak to 18, which is the best start in program history. LCSC improved to 6-0 in conference play, while Montana Tech falls to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in league play.
 
The 18 wins is also the third longest win streak in program history. LCSC won 25 straight in 1999-2000 and then 22 straight in 2006-07.
 
The Warriors wasted little time in taking control of the game. An early 9-0 run made it 11-2 less than four minutes into the contest. After Tech scored, the Warriors followed with 11 straight points for a 22-4 advantage with 3:24 left in the opening quarter.
 
LCSC led 31-9 at the end of the quarter and Tech never got closer than 17 the rest of the way. LCSC led by at least 30 for most of the second half and its largest lead was 45 points at 94-49.
 
"I really thought, overall on both ends of the floor, we played really, really well tonight," LCSC coach Brian Orr said. "In the first half, we shot the ball extremely well, we went to the rim really well, and our transition game was good."
 
The Warriors had several nice performances on the evening with junior post Brittany Tackett and senior guard Caelyn Orlandi leading the charge. Tackett finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting, and had seven rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot, and a steal.
 
"She was so tough, so dominating out there," Orr said. "When she went up, it was almost automatic tonight. She had an outstanding performance."
 
Orlandi, who was the conference's Player of the Week, continued her hot play of late and posted her second double-double in a week with 14 points and 10 assists. She also had six rebounds and a steal.
 
"We only had seven assists in the first half and when that happens, you are playing a little more as individuals," Orr said. "She only had three in the first half so I'm really proud she picked that up in the second half."
 
With the 10 assists, Orlandi became only the fourth Warrior to record more than 500 assists in her career. She now has 501. She also is just nine points shy of becoming the sixth player to score at least 1,500 points in the program.
 
The Warriors finished with 18 assists on their 36 baskets, but also were able to convert 19 turnovers into 24 points on several fastbreak layins.
 
"It looked like Warrior basketball tonight," Orr said. "Up and down the floor, taking the open shots."
 
Orr also was quick to point out that Montana Tech was a victim of the conference schedule. Tech defeated Carroll at home on Thursday night, and then after the night game, drove to Coeur d'Alene. The team then arrived in Lewiston at 2 p.m. for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
 
"That is horrible for Montana Tech," Orr said. "It's such a competitive advantage. We knew we would have that competitive edge so we wanted to make them keep up with us. We really wanted to emphasize getting up and down the court for all four quarters, and we did that."
 
LCSC finished with five players in double figures scoring. Natahnee Spencer added 15 points, two assists and two steals, Jossilyn Blackman had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Brooke Litalien had 10 points.
 
Hailey Turner led LCSC with eight rebounds to help the Warriors to a 42-38 edge on the boards.
 
For the game, LCSC was 36-of-67 from the field for 53.7 percent. The Warriors shot 58.6 percent in the opening half and 50 percent in the second half. LCSC also was 7-of-15 from the 3-point line for 46.7 percent.
 
Montana Tech finished 22-of-65 for 33.8 percent and 9-of-24 from the 3-point line for 37.5 percent.
 
LCSC also had a 46-24 scoring advantage in the key.
 
This was the second of three meetings between the two teams as all conference teams play each other three times. LCSC defeated Montana Tech 68-46 on New Year's Eve, also in Lewiston. The third meeting will be in Butte, Mont., on Feb. 4.
 
LCSC will be back in action Saturday night when it's the Warriors turn to play on back to back nights against a somewhat rested opponent. Carroll, which played in Butte on Thursday, and LCSC meet at 5:30 p.m. Carroll is the lone conference team LCSC has yet to play this season.