LEWISTON, Idaho – Once the Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball team shook off the doldrums of a hefty, Division I laden exhibition schedule, it turned an early 13-point deficit into a decisive 80-58 victory over Southern Oregon Friday evening in the Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic.
 
Four Warriors, led by Peyton Souvenir's 16 points, reached double figures as LC went from shooting barely over 30 percent in the first quarter to 45 percent in the second and ultimately 51.9 for the game. As their shooting picked up, so, too, did the Warriors' defense as they began to force and capitalize on turnovers (21 points off turnovers) and take control of the boards.
 
It was a change in momentum coach Brian Orr expected when he decided to counter Southern Oregon's penetrating offense with a zone defense instead of the man-to-man the Warriors used to start the game.
 
"When we switched to zone, all that cutting stopped and our defense really played well from that point on," he said. "What I'm really happy with is they didn't get a ton of second and third shots."
 
Trailing 28-15 with 6:30 to go in the second, the Warriors started their march back into contention with 19-6 to close out the quarter with the game tied at 34. They outrebounded SOU 8-4 during that stretch to assert themselves from baseline to baseline.
 
They took the lead for good on Jamie Nielson's 3-pointer to start the third quarter, although SOU stayed within eight points until an 8-1 run to end the quarter sent LC into the final 10 minutes with a 63-48 advantage.
 
The fourth quarter was all LC as the Warriors expanded their lead to 20 on several occasions before the final 23-point spread.
 
"The second half we moved the ball better," Orr said. "We found the open player and made some shots. I was happy with the way we played the second half.
 
"But you have to give them a lot of credit the first half."
 
In addition to Souvenir's game-leading total, Abbie Johnson and Kiara Burlage had 13 each, and Nielson finished with 12. Johnson had five rebounds to lead LC as the Warriors build a 37-29 rebounding advantage.
 
"It's nice to be home," Orr said. "It's nice to get a win."