BILLINGS, Mont. – To a player, Lewis-Clark State's women's basketball team executed up and down the court en route to a 61-56 upset of #12 Rocky Mountain College in their Frontier Conference regular-season finale Saturday evening.
They shot 47.7 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range. They had a 33-26 rebounding advantage and totaled 12 steals. It was a performance that made coach
Brian Orr proud of their ability to execute down the stretch, a span that included their making nine free throws in the final four minutes.
"We've been in so many of these tight games, it feels good to finally come out with a win," Orr said after the Warriors improved to 17-12 overall, 8-10 in conference play. "This was an important win for our team if for no other reason than to bring a little momentum into the conference tournament."
The Warriors, seeded fifth, open the tournament at No. 4 Providence Wednesday night. Rocky Mountain, the third seed, plays No. 6 Montana Tech in the opening round. Regular-season champion Carroll College has the opening-round bye, with No. 2 Montana Western and No. 7 Montana Northern playing in the remaining quarterfinal.
"It was definitely a team win," Orr said. "We had different players step up and make big plays at different times – both on offense and defense. I was really proud of our effort on defense and controlling the boards."
The examples are many. After Rocky Mountain rallied from deficits as large as 15 points to within two with 6:59 to play, the Warriors secured the victory with persistent and resilience over the next six minutes until seven free throws in the final minute – three from
Jossilyn Blackman, two from
Cali Moscrip and two from
Lauren Johnson, clinched the upset.
Blackman led the Warriors with 14 points, with
Brittany Tackett added 12 and
Lauren Johnson 11, which includes three 3-pointers. Tackett and
Hailey Turner had six rebounds each, and Blackman, Tackett and Turner had three steals apiece.
Peyton Souvenir had five assists to go with eight points.
