ATHERTON, Calif. – Abbie Johnson sank two free throws with six seconds remaining to help Lewis-Clark State College's women's basketball team stay undefeated with a 64-59 victory over No. 22 Menlo College and secure the 900^th victory in program history and the 450^th for coach Brian Orr.
 
LC is the seventh winningest NAIA women's basketball program and Orr is seventh on the all-time wins list for coaches.
 
"The tradition of success at LC is something we can all be proud of," said Orr, whose team had to battle back from a 10-point (20-10) first-quarter deficit. "I'm really proud of the way our girls battled back and found a way to win."
 
The Warriors (5-0) took the lead for good, 51-50, on Peyton Souvenir's layup with 8:02 to play in the game. Kiara Burlage, LC's scoring (15) and assist (3) leader for the night, added a layup for a 53-50 advantage with 6:25 to go.
 
The Oaks responded with a layup 22 seconds later to close the gap back to one, 53-52. A 3-pointer by Jansen Edmiston at the 5:03 mark pushed the Warriors up 56-52 but the Oaks responded quickly again with a layup to trim LC's lead to 56-54 with 4:47 to go and then tied the game on a Courtney Perry layup with 4:06 on the clock.
 
A jumper by Burlage at 3:53 followed by a layup by Johnson at 3:14 pushed the Warriors back on top by four, 60-56. Menlo cut it to three, 60-57, on a free throw by Kiara Brown before Burlage gave LC its largest lead of the game, 62-57, on two free throws with 1:01 to play. A layup by the Oaks with :22 to go dropped the Warrior lead back to three, 62-59, to set the stage for Johnson's game-clinching free throws.
 
The end of the game was in stark contrast to the first quarter when the Oaks thoroughly dominated in taking a 20-10 lead. The Warriors managed just two field goals – both 3-pointers – and four free throws in the period.
 
"In the first quarter," Orr said, "we were really bad. You have to give Menlo a lot of credit because their pressure defense forced eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes."
 
The Warriors recovered to reverse the scoring in the second quarter with a 20-point period that brought the game to a 30-30 tie at the half. Throughout the second half, the largest lead either team could build was five points as they went toe-to-toe over the final 20 minutes.
 
"We slowed their transition game by pressing and falling back into a zone," Orr said. "And, on the offensive end we started taking care of the ball a little better and our shots started going in."
 
After shooting just 13.33 percent in the first quarter, the Warriors hit 40 percent or higher for the final three periods to finish the game at 35.2. From 3-point range, they were 47.1 percent (8-of-17) and they missed just one of their 19 free-throw attempts for 94.7 percent.
 
Backing Burlage's team-leading effort, Johnson, Edmiston and Hannah Burland had 10 each. Johnson had nine rebounds but LC lost the board battle, 39-31.