DILLON, Mont. - It was a tale of two halves in Saturday's Frontier Conference matchup between the Lewis-Clark State Warriors and No. 9 Montana-Western Bulldogs. Defense set the tone in the opening 20 minutes before both offenses came alive in the second half.
After a slow-starting first quarter, the two teams put up just 15 total points in the second quarter. The Bulldogs offense took over in the second half to roll past the Warriors 60-47.
"When you play on the road against a top-10 team, it's critical that every player is dialed in every single possession," Head Coach Brian Orr said. "We just didn't have that kind of focus, especially the first half."
Cali Moscrip hit a three with an assist from Jamie Nielson to put the Warriors on the board, and Nielson hit a bucket of her own to give LC a 5-4 lead at 8:34. After the Bulldogs evened the score with a free throw, defense controlled the game on both sides. Montana-Western found the basket after two minutes of scoreless play. Abbie Johnson completed a three-point play to give LC back the lead with just over five to play in the quarter. The Montana-Western offense came alive in the final five minutes of the opening frame to end the period with a 17-10 lead.
Peyton Souvenir put up the first Warrior point of the second quarter with a free throw two minutes in. She added to the LC total with another foul shot at 6:24. To that point in the quarter, both teams had been held to two points each. Hailey Turner hit a basket with an assist from Hannah Burland at the 5:05 mark to bring LC within five at 19-14. Delaney Henery found the net with 2:23 to play, and Turner followed a minute later with one of her own. After a low scoring quarter, the half closed with Montana-Western leading 24-18.
The script was flipped in the third quarter as both teams nearly doubled their first half scoring totals. Moscrip found Jossilyn Blackman to open the scoring in the second half and bring LC within four at 24-20. The Bulldogs took off on a massive run, however, to stretch their advantage to 40-30 halfway through the quarter. Montana-Western led 54-33 heading into the fourth.
The Bulldogs' offense did not let up in the fourth quarter and Montana-Western went on to win 60-47.
Blackman led the scoring for the Warriors with 11 points, while Kiara Burlage led the defense with 12 boards.
The Bulldogs had three players in double-digit scoring, led by Briana King with 17 points. Cierra Lamey notched a double-double with 11 boards and 10 points.
"The fact that we had to play on Thursday night, practice the next morning, ride the bus for eight hours and then play a 2 p.m. (MT) game on Saturday is a tough challenge," Orr said. "At the same time, UMW didn't play Thursday and only had one team to prepare for, and that is a very real competitive advantage."
"I am pretty certain we learned a lot and I am hopeful we can grow from this loss. We got beat by a really good team with a star player who took over the third quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game," Orr said. "I really like our team. I know we will continue to improve and I believe we can beat anybody."
Now 1-1 in Frontier Conference play, the Warriors sit at an overall record of 9-2. LC Women's Basketball Team takes a few weeks off before they travel to Southern California to take on No. 14 The Master's on Dec. 18 and No. 8 Westmont on Dec. 19.
