BILLINGS, Mont. - The No. 23 Lewi-Clark State women's basketball team saw their season come to an end on Saturday at the hands of the defending National Champions, the No. 1 Freed-Hardeman Lions. The Warriors fought their way to the NAIA quarterfinal with wins over No. 9 William Penn and LSU Alexandria before falling 82-60 to the Lions.

FHU opened the contest with five-straight points before Hannah Burland snapped the run with a 3 at 7:09. The Lions answered with another five points before Burland found the basket at 4:13 to bring the score to 10-5. Peyton Souvenir scored at the buzzer and LC trailed 18-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Kiara Burlage and Souvenir hit back-to-back 3s to pull LC within six at 21-15 two minutes into the second frame. Souvenir added five more points, including another 3-pointer, to keep the Warriors within 10. She continued to carry the offense with two free throws to bring her total to 12 in the first half.

The potent FHU offense was hard to stop and led 37-24 at the break.

The Lions continued to charge on the in the second half with a strong defense as well as a relentless offense. By the end of the third, the Warriors trailed by 30 at 64-34.

Freed-Hardeman kept a cushion of nearly 30 points for the remainder of the game to end the Warriors' season.

Burland led the Warriors with 13 points scored and Souvenir added 12. Jamie Nielson had 11 points and Abbie Johnson grabbed 13 rebounds.

The Warriors conclude their 2018-19 campaign with a record of 22-12. They were 2-1 in their 2019 NAIA National Championship Tournament run.

"We are really excited that we were able to make it this far, unfortunately this wasn't the ending we were hoping for," coach Caelyn Orlandi said. "We want to thank our seniors for all the hard work and dedication they have put into the program. They made it a better place to be a part of."

"Our goals will be even bigger next year," Orlandi said. "It was a great experience for our younger players, and now they know what it takes to get there."