LEWISTON, Idaho – Though the outcome was not ideal, the Lewis-Clark State Women's Basketball team showed a great deal of improvement in its second matchup of the season against No. 6 Carroll College. The Warriors came out strong and led by two after the first half, but were unable to hold off the potent Fighting Saint offense in the second and fell 65-60.
"The last game we played them, I regret not just playing slow, slowing them down and playing a possession at a time," Head Coach Brian Orr said. "We tried to run with them and it wasn't conducive to where we were at in terms of our conditioning. Since then, of course, we've had several practices.
"We've pushed the girls really hard and we've changed the whole style of how we were going to guard their offense," Orr continued. "Instead of playing more of a pack defense, we went out and pressured and tried to deny and it gave them some problems. And really, I thought it neutralized some of their scorers at times, but they stepped up and made big baskets when they needed to."
Abbie Johnson and Jansen Edmiston rattled off eight straight points to take an 8-3 lead over Carroll in the opening quarter. Edmiston hit back-to-back 3's to spark the LC State offense, and a basket by Peyton Souvenir and free throws by Kiara Burlage kept the momentum going midway through. A free throw by Callie Stevens had the Warriors up by two at 17-15 after the first 10 minutes.
A 3-pointer by Abby Farmer started the second frame, but the Saints answered with a run of seven to take a 22-20 lead by 7:48. Another short run pushed the Carroll advantage to 27-21 before back-to-back 3's by Stevens and Maddie Holm evened the score at 27 each.
Burlage sparked a 6-0 rally to give the Warriors a 34-29 edge in the final minute of the half, and LC State held on to lead 34-32 at the break.
Edmiston opened the scoring in the third before Burlage started a seven-point run to put the Warriors up by nine (43-34) at 6:32. The former conference foes traded baskets until a streak by the Saints had Carroll leading 47-46 heading into the final quarter.
Farmer assisted Burlage on a 3-pointer to put LC up 51-50 over Carroll halfway through the final frame as the lead continued to change hands. A run of eight points in the final minute and a half by the Saints ended the game 65-60.
Edmiston led the Warriors with 17 points to go with six rebounds. Burlage added 14 points while Johnson scored 10 with a team-high nine boards. Souvenir chipped in seven points, six rebounds and three assists.
As a team, LC State shot 39.3 percent from the field.
The Warriors wrap up the series with Carroll on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Lewiston. The game can be streamed on the Warrior Sports Network, listened to on KOZE or watched at Zany's.
