HAVRE, Montana – A big second half helped fuel the Lewis-Clark State Women's Basketball victory over the Montana State-Northern Skylights on Friday night in Havre. The Warriors outscored MSUN 36-22 in the final two quarters, after trailing at the half, en route to a 66-54 come-from-behind win. Abbie Johnson and Peyton Souvenir each put up 15 points in the contest to lead LC State.
"We got out to a fast start tonight, but Northern switched defenses and we struggled to make baskets," Head Coach Brian Orr said. "We picked up our defensive pressure in the second half and that was the difference in the game. Peyton and Abby (Farmer) hit some big 3's in the second half and gave us some breathing room. It was a good road win in a tough place to play."
Johnson got the Warriors on the board first with an assist from Jansen Edmiston a minute in. A steal by Edmiston was converted into a basket by Souvenir, and a layup by Kiara Burlage made it a six-point run. Johnson kept the rally going, pushing the lead to 8-0 at 6:35 to force an MSUN timeout.
Souvenir and Johnson went back-to-back out of the timeout to make it a 12-0 rally for LC State midway through. The Warriors held the Skylights off the board until the 4:30 mark in the opening quarter. Abby Farmer kept the momentum up with a 3-pointer with 2:02 on the clock, and LC State ended the first 10 minutes with a 16-10 advantage.
The Skylights struck first in the second frame and used the shift in momentum to take an 18-17 lead by 6:38. A basket by Johnson put the Warriors back in front 19-18 as a back-and-forth battled ensued. Callie Stevens scored her first collegiate basket after grabbing her first steal to tie the contest 23-23 with 3:43 to play in the half.
Stevens added to her debut with a go-ahead 3-pointer at 2:01 to give the Warriors a 28-26 edge over MSUN, but back-to-back baskets in the final minute had the Skylights ahead 32-30 at the half.
Johnson had a strong first half, leading all scorers with 12 points.
Burlage opened the quarter with a basket to tie things up 32-32, and a basket by Souvenir was followed by a pair of 3's from Farmer to give the Warriors a 40-36 advantage at 6:03. Souvenir grabbed a key offensive rebound and scored to give LC State a slim 44-39 lead midway through the quarter.
Edmiston scored a basket in transition and Johnson put up two free throws to build on the Warrior lead. Souvenir hit an effortless-looking 3 to make it 51-42 with 2:04 on the clock. Sara Muehlhausen joined in on the scoring in the final minute, and a free throw by Johnson had the Warriors up 54-45 heading into the final quarter. LC State outscored the Skylights 24-13 in the frame.
Maddie Holm took the ball from one end of the court to the other to score her first collegiate bucket and make it 56-47 Warriors with eight minutes on the clock. A basket by Burlage, followed by a 3 from Souvenir, made it 63-52 halfway through the fourth quarter. Burlage found the basket again to make it six straight points and the Warriors finished off the Skylights with a 66-54 victory.
Johnson and Souvenir scored 15 points each, and Burlage added 14 to go with her game-leading nine rebounds. Edmiston led the Warriors with four assists. Farmer tallied nine points, all with 3-pointers.
The Warriors forced 20 turnovers and had 11 steals. They held the Skylights to 15.8 percent (3-for-19) from 3-point range.
LC State takes on MSUN tomorrow at 1 p.m. to close out the weekend. The game can be streamed on Montana-State Northern's YouTube page as well as at Zany's.
