LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 22 Lewis-Clark State women's basketball team avenged the loss to Providence in the regular-season finale and snapped a three-game skid with a big win in the Frontier Conference Quarterfinal. The trio of seniors led the Warriors to a 71-57 victory to advance to the semifinals on Friday in Dillon, Mont.
"After the win against Montana Western we were different. We didn't have that energy," coach
Brian Orr said. "The road is so hard in this league. But coming home and the energy we had here tonight and the way we played, I thought we played so much better and with so much more intensity on defense and that carried over to our offense."
Abbie Johnson got the scoring started just 20 seconds in with a layup and
Jossilyn Blackman added a pair of free throws to give LC a 4-0 lead. The Argonauts rallied back to even the score 19-19 by the end of the quarter.
The Warriors opened the second frame eight-straight points, beginning with a basket by Kiara Buralge.
Hailey Turner added four points and
Jamie Nielson capped the run with 7:55 on the clock. A shot by
Peyton Souvenir gave the Warriors their largest lead of the half at 36-25 with four minutes to play and LC carried a 45-35 lead into the locker room.
Turner kick started the third frame with a bucket before
Cali Moscrip hit a 3 to grow the advantage to 15 at 50-35. The Argos rallied to bring the score to within four, 54-50, heading into the final 10 minutes.
A pair of foul shots by Turner sparked a 10-point run by LC at 7:25. The first six points in the run came from Turner before
Hannah Burland added a free throw and Moscrip hit a 3 to give the Warriors a 66-52 lead. They went on to take the game 71-57.
The three Warrior seniors led the team in scoring. Turner dropped 14 points, while both Moscrip and Blackman added 12. Moscrip was 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Turner notched a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the game and Moscrip dished seven assists. Both she and Johnson snagged three steals.
The Warriors out-rebounded the Argos 40-30 and had 11 steals compared to six.
With the win, LC advances to face top-seeded No. 4 Montana Western on Friday in Dillon, Mont. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PT.
