LEWISTON, Idaho – Teamwork is a constant in Lewis-Clark State College women's basketball and it was evident again Saturday night when the Warriors dispatched a hard-charging Eastern Oregon team to go undefeated in the Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic.
 
With three players reaching double figures and all but two scoring, the Warriors on 65-57 over the Mountaineers, who came into the weekend tournament as the eighth-ranked NAIA Division II and a team LC will face in the future when it moves to the Cascade Conference next year.
 
"Any night," coach Brian Orr said, "any given player can step up. I would like to think that is part of our system."
 
Key Saturday night was the play of juniors Kiara Burlage (13 points), Abbie Johnson (12 points) and Peyton Souvenir (12 points). For their roles Saturday and in Friday's decision over Southern Oregon, Johnson was honored as the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Souvenir was a member of the All-Tournament Team.
 
As for Saturday's win, which say Eastern Oregon close to within six in the late going, Souvenir and Johnson credited the unselfish play of the Warriors.
 
"Our energy is the most important thing," Souvenir said. "That's such an important part of our team. Whether we're down 15 or up 15, it's important to have the same mindset."
 
It's that mindset that gives the Warriors a multi-faceted threat.
 
"We move the ball really well as a team," Johnson said. "Everyone finds the open player. We set good screens and we move the ball."
 
Defensively, Orr said LC might have picked up someone in their loss earlier this week to Division I Boise State.
 
"I think the pressure (defense) we saw last Tuesday carried over to our team," said Orr, whose team totaled 12 steals in Saturday's victory. "It was nice to see us playing that way. We showed some toughness."
 
That defensive pressure enabled the Warriors to limited EOU to 39.0 percent shooting from the field and 31.8 from 3-point range.
 
In addition to her team-high scoring total, Burlage led LC with nine rebounds, while Souvenir was tops in assists with three, and Jansen Edmiston had four of the 12 steals.

Twin Rivers PT Classic All-Tournament Team:
MVP - Abbie Johnson (LCSC)
All-Tournament - Peyton Souvenir (LCSC)
All-Tournament - Beverly Slater (Eastern Oregon)
All-Tournament - Rachel Fielder (Eastern Oregon)
All-Tournament - Paige Holmes (Montana Western)
All-Tournament - Syd'Nee Fryere (Southern Oregon)