LEWISTON, Idaho – Holding Montana State-Northern scoreless for a seven-minute stretch in the final quarter helped the Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team get over the hump and defeat the Skylights 57-50 in the championship game of the Frontier Conference Tournament at the LCSC Activity Center on Monday night.
 
The victory gave the Warriors and coach Brian Orr back-to-back conference tournament titles as well as their seventh tournament championship in the last 10 years.
 
LCSC, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA at 31-1, also earned an automatic berth to the NAIA national tournament, which opens March 15 in Billings, Mont. Pairings for the tournament will be announced by the NAIA late Wednesday afternoon.
 
Montana State-Northern, ranked No. 12 in the country, falls to 23-8, but is all but guaranteed an at-large berth in the 32-team national tournament.
 
Although Monday's win was the fourth time LCSC defeated the Skylights this season, it took just about everything the Warriors had to get the victory. MSU-Northern led for most of the first half in the game, which featured nine lead changes and five ties.
 
The key stretch for LCSC came in the final quarter after MSU-Northern's Jacy Thompson hit a jumper at the 7:50 mark to put the Skylights up 46-43. Northern didn't score again until Cydney Auzenne hit a free throw with 46.4 seconds left. That helped LCSC go on a 9-0 run for a 52-46 lead. The Skylights couldn't get closer than four in the final minute.
 
"It wasn't the prettiest game, but I thought both teams really fought every possession," Orr said. "The whole game nobody really got an edge. I just felt like the team that had the lead coming down the stretch would have a big advantage because it's so hard to come back."
 
The Warriors used both man and zone defenses to keep Northern in check, especially in the second half when the Skylights shot just 20 percent from the field. LCSC also held MSU-Northern's leading scorer Natalee Faupel to two second-half points after the senior guard had 15 in the first 20 minutes.
 
"We contested shots all night," Orr said. "We held them to 20 percent in the second half and that's probably the biggest thing for us tonight. We were able to get stops and convert a few more shots than they did down the stretch."
 
For the game, the Skylights were 17-of-61 from the field for 27.9 percent, and hurt themselves at the foul line with a 9-of-17 effort, 52.9 percent. LCSC was 22-of-52 from the field, 42.3 percent, and 11-of-15 at the line, 73.3 percent.
 
The Warriors had their hands full of Faupel and the Skylights crashing the boards hard in the first half. LCSC gave up 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, which helped the Skylights hold the lead for most of the way before LC rallied for a 33-32 halftime lead.
 
 
"Montana State Northern really played well tonight," Orr said. "That's a tough team to play."
 
Caelyn Orlandi led LCSC with 16 points and seven assists, while Jossilyn Blackman added 13 points and seemed to come up with big shots when needed. She also added seven rebounds. Brittany Tackett added nine points, while Megan Risinger led the team with eight boards and two steals.
 
"This team answered the bell," Orr said. "They never lost their poise. There was never any doubt that we were going to pull it off."
 
The Warriors are expected to get one of four No. 1 seeds for the national tournament and with that, will likely play on opening day. Orr said the team would take Tuesday off and then start preparing for nationals once they learn who their first-round opponent will be.
 
LCSC, which already set a program record with 29 regular-season wins, is now tied for second for wins in a season with the 2006-07 team, which went 31-3. LCSC's all-time mark is 33 wins during the 2000-01 season when the team advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA tournament. That was LCSC's best-ever finish at the tourney.
 
LCSC"s four seniors – Orlandi, Risinger, Brooke Litalein, and Natahnee Spencer – have now won 106 games in their four-year careers at LCSC, which is the third highest four-year total. The all-time four-year record is 110 wins