BILLINGS, Mont. – Turnovers and rebounding haunted the Lewis-Clark State women's basketball team Thursday afternoon at Rocky Mountain College as the Battlin' Bears raced to the 62-54 Frontier Conference victory.

"We defended well enough tonight," coach Brian Orr said, "unfortunately our offense let us down. We couldn't get into any rhythm, didn't execute very well and Rocky took advantage."

Uncharacteristically, the Warriors (11-3, 2-1) turned the ball over 15 times as Rocky (12-1, 2-1) claimed the lead, which it expanded to as many as 14 points in the third quarter, late in the first quarter and never looked back. LCSC cut the gap to seven, 51-44, on Jansen Edmiston's 3-pointer with 6:08 to play and again, 53-46, on Hailey Turner's jumper with 4:53 to go. But that was as close as the Warriors would be.

"Give them credit," Orr said. "They played with great energy and their defense was the difference."
 
In addition to the turnovers, the Warriors were out-rebounded 42-24 with only five of those coming off the offensive glass, which amounted to just three second-chance points compared to 19 for the Battlin' Bears. And the team that led the nation in free throw percentage – and continues to be among the country's best, made just 58.8 percent (10-17) of its free throws.
 
Edmiston provided the offensive punch with 15 points off six-of-11 shooting (two-of-four from 3-point range). Turner and Peyton Souvenir had eight each. Kiara Burlage was the top rebounder with four.
 
The Warriors return to action Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Carroll College.

"You can learn a lot from a loss like this," Orr said, "and we hope those lessons will make us a better team in the long run."