HELENA, Mont. – Free throws down the stretch by Lewis-Clark State College helped the Warriors win their Frontier Conference-opener with a 69-61 victory over No. 23 Carroll College. The Friday night victory also let the Warriors snap a seven-game losing streak to the Saints.
 
"I'm really proud of our players because we beat a really good team tonight," said Warrior coach Brian Orr after his team improved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. "Our attack-the-basket mentality got us some contested layups but, more importantly, it got us to the foul line."
 
LC led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter before the Saints staged a rally that enabled them to close to within six in the game's final seconds. After an uncharacteristically cold night from the line, the Warriors drained 14 of their 17 attempts in the final quarter – a number that includes eight in the final minute.
 
Jamie Nielson and Kiara Burlage had 17 points each and Peyton Souvenir added 14 as the Warriors finished the night shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 65.5 percent from the line. Defensively, LC limited the Saints to 40.4 percent from the field and forced 21 turnovers. Carroll did win the rebounding battle, 35-29, with Burlage and Abbie Johnson with eight each for the Warriors. Souvenir finished with four assists and Johnson had four steals to go with two blocks.
 
"Our defense did a good job of forcing turnovers and kept them out of the paint," Orr said.
 
Carroll scored first but the Warriors wound up with the first-quarter lead, 17-13, with five points each from Burlage and Nielson as LC opened the game with a sizzling 58.33 percentage from the field.
 
The Saints took the lead, 20-19, on Maddie Gertiz's jumper with 6:23 to go in the second quarter and held it until Souvenir returned the edge to the Warriors, 24-23, on two free throws with 4:30 left in the period. Successive LC field goals by Souvenir, Burlage, Jansen Edmiston and Johnson pushed the Warriors out to a 32-23 advantage with 55 seconds remaining before the half. Taylor Salonen cut the lead by two with 35 seconds remaining as the Warriors headed into halftime with a 32-25 advantage.
 
LC's halftime lead was fueled by a 54.17 shooting percentage as well as the ability to nab eight steals and block six shots. Souvenir and Nielson each had eight points in the half with Burlage finishing with seven.
 
The Warriors continued to expand their lead throughout the third quarter to take a 50-37 lead into the fourth quarter after Edmiston hit a 3-pointer with two second left in the period. LC's largest lead of the quarter was 15 points, 45-30, on a Hannah Burland field goal with 2:40 to go in the period. But, the Saints weren't through. They chipped away until they trailed by just eight, 64-56, with 43 seconds remaining. Nielson made it nine with a free throw with :40 to go before Christine Denny went inside for two for the Saints with :35 on the clock to trim the gap to 65-58.
 
Two Souvenir free throws expanded the Warrior lead back to nine, 67-58, before Kamden Hilborn struck from 3-point range to make it 67-61 with :29 on the clock. LC wrapped up the scoring with free throws by Souvenir with :23 to go and by Sara Muhelhausen with :17 remaining.
 
"It's nice to get our first conference win," said Orr, whose team is at Montana Tech Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. (PT) tipoff, "but it's a long season and we know every game will be a challenge."