BUTTE, Mont – Jansen Edmiston was practically on the Lewis-Clark State bench when she took the pass from Lauren Johnson and launched the 3-point field goal that would secure a 78-75 victory the Warriors at Montana Tech Saturday evening.
 
Edmiston's game-winner capped what coach Brian Orr called the best half the Warriors (9-2, 2-0) have played so far this season. It, however, came on the heels of a half their veteran coach hopes he doesn't see the likes of again.
 
"We executed much better in the second half," Orr said. "We took care of the ball and hit our shots. Of course, none was bigger than Jansen's game-winner. Except for missing some free throws, I thought we played our best half of the season."
 
The Warriors needed it. They had leads of as many as seven points in the first quarter before Montana Tech closed to within four, 21-17, to end the opening period. The Diggers dominated the second quarter, 29-11, to take a 46-33 halftime lead.
 
"We couldn't seem to matchup in conversion from our press to half court without giving up open shots or layups," Orr said. "We had no pressure on the basketball.
 
"The second half was a different story. We had great energy on defense and it carried over to our offense."
 
Montana Tech expanded its halftime lead to as many as 15 points in the third quarter before the Warriors started their comeback. It wasn't until Peyton Souvenir's field goal with 3:27 left in the third that LC was able to cut the Tech lead to single digits – 56-47.
 
Hailey Turner followed with a 3-point goal with 2:46 to narrow the gap to 56-50. Tech went up again by eight but the Warriors continued their dogged pursuit and, with back-to-back field goals from Abbie Johnson and Kiara Burlage, were down by six, 60-54, heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
Turner cut the lead to four and Lauren Johnson made it two, 60-58, with 8:01 to play. Lauren Johnson tied the game at 60 before the Diggers again took the lead on Kaylynn Coverdell's field goal with 7:12 remaining. The back-and-forth battle continued until Edmiston's buzzer beater.
 
A couple of the keys to the comeback were the tenacious play of Souvenir and the consistently of Edmiston.
 
"Peyton was really good on both ends in the third," Orr said. "She got us going.
 
"Jansen played one of her better games attacking the basket and finding her open teammates."
 
Edmiston, with 13, led four Warriors with double-figure scoring totals. Joining her were Souvenir with 12, and Turner and Lauren Johnson with 11 each. Edmiston also had seven assists and three rebounds. Turner and Jossilyn Blackman were the rebounding leaders with five each.