BUTTE, Mont. – An ice-cold night from the field took its toll on the Lewis-Clark State women's basketball team as the 12^th-ranked Warriors lost 83-59 at Frontier Conference rival Montana Tech Saturday evening.
 
The Warriors, who trailed the entire game with the exception of two short-lived ties in the fourth quarter, shot just 27.59 (16 of 58) from the field in losing for just the second time this season to go to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play. From 3-point range, their shooting dipped to 12 percent as they made just three of 25 attempts. In contrast, Tech shot 48 percent from the field and connected on seven of 18 (38.9 percent) of their 3-point attempts."
 
"I'm really disappointed with the way we played tonight," Warrior coach Brian Orr said. "We were a step slow defensively most of the game. Offensively, we didn't execute and we struggled to make shots.
 
"But you have to give Tech a lot of credit because they really defended well. They are a good team that can flat-out shoot the 3."
 
After trailing 18-10 after the first quarter and 41-31 at the half, LC chipped away in the third to close to within 53-50 to start the fourth quarter. The Warriors made up the gap in the third from the free throw line where they scored 12 of their 19 points. Jansen Edmiston lead the way with two free throws, a field goal and a 3-pointer in scoring seven of her 13 points in the third.
 
As the fourth quarter unfolded, Peyton Souvenir hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 53 with 8:55 to play. Tech responded with two free throws from Kaylee Zard to reclaim the lead, 55-53, with 8:09 to go. Souvenir tied the game again, 55-55, with 7:14 remaining but missed the free throw that could have given LC its first lead of the night.
 
Over the final seven minutes, however, the Warriors would score just four more points – a field goal by Souvenir at the 4:31 mark and two free throws by Kiara Burlage with 3:31 to play.
 
"We fought hard to finally tie the game but they took over the game from that point on," Orr said. "They had a competitive advantage in that they didn't play last night be we can't use that as an excuse.
 
"We need to be tougher both mentally and physically. Hopefully we learned that lesson tonight."
 
Souvenir was the Warriors' scoring leader with 16 and Burlage led them on the boards with 10 but Tech dominated overall there, too, with a 43-32 advantage. Burlage also added 13 points as did Edmiston.