Box Score BILLINGS, Mont. – Many records were broken in the Elite Eight matchup between the LCSC women's basketball team and Westmont Saturday night, but the most important thing to the team was the final score.
The Warriors defeated Westmont 72-67 to reach the Fab Four for the first time since the 2001-02 season and for the first time in
Brian Orr's tenure as head coach of the Warriors.
LCSC will take on Vanguard on Monday, March 20 at 7 p.m.
With the win, the Warriors improved to 34-1 on the season, breaking the record of 33 for the most wins in a season set by that Fab Four team in 2001-02.
"They celebrated but stopped themselves and said they aren't done yet," Head Coach
Brian Orr said. "They releaize they still have work to do and this is just a step to it."
Caelyn Orlandi broke the other records during the game. Her 236 assists on the season broke the LCSC season record, held by Debbie Johnson, now Debbie Sabotta, since the 1988-89 season when she finished with 234. Orlandi also eclipsed the career assists mark, ending the game with 609, two more than Brianne Kottowitz who played from 1998-2002.
Kottowitz was in the stands tonight for Orlandi's record-breaking performance.
Orlandi paced the Warriors in the game with 25 points and 10 assists. The effort gives Orlandi 26 double-digit scoring games this season. She also tied a season-high with 10 assists – good for her third double-double of the year.
Jossilyn Blackman was key off the bench with 17 points and five rebounds.
Megan Risinger added 10 points and five boards.
"Caelyn was unbelievable tonight," Coach Orr said. "She is the best point guard here. What was really big in the game were the 10 assists. Her 10 assists were bigger than her 25 points."
Risinger's 3-pointer with 2:48 in the first quarter gave LCSC its largest lead of the first at 16-10. Orlandi made a second-chance bucket towards the end of the quarter to lead 18-13 after one.
The Warriors kept pouring it on in the second extending their lead to as large as 11.
Hailey Turner made both of her free throw attempts halfway through the second. But Westmont had something else to say with a 12-6 run to close out the half trailing by just five points at the break.
"Our zone defense did a pretty good job in the first half," Orr said. "We struggled to keep them off the boards at the end. But in second half we kept changing our defense and that seemed to work."
Westmont later tied the game at 32-32 and gained their first lead since the first quarter with a 3-pointer with 6:55 remaining in the third. Their largest lead of the game was five points, set at the 2:01 mark, with a 47-42 advantage. LCSC trimmed that deficit down to one with a Blackman bucket with two seconds remaining in the quarter.
Trailing 56-55 with 5:50 remaining in the game, Blackman's layup gave LCSC the lead, this time for good. LCSC was able to make their free throws at the end and grab the crucial defensive rebounds to prevent second chance opportunities for Westmont.
"Blackman had a tremendous performance," Orr said. "Without her performance inside I don't think we get here. Also,
Brooke Litalien's defense was tremendous in the first half with her 2-3 steals and many deflections."
The same core of players failed to get to this point last year as they were ousted in the quarterfinals. Orr thinks the group this year has the necessary skills this time around to win the championship.
"This group I couldn't be happier," Orr said. "Last year losing in the quarterfinal was a devastating loss because I thought we were just as talented but we weren't tough enough and in good enough shape. These guys made that commitment this year and it's paying off."
