BILLINGS, Mont. – The 21st-ranked Warriors (18-9, 10-7) trailed by as much as 17 in the third quarter, but battled back to come within one point in Thursday's 71-65 loss to the No. 24 Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears (18-10, 9-8). Kiara Burlage dropped 25 points in the contest.
"It is critical for our team to come out from the opening tipoff with energy and effort," coach Brian Orr said. "I was extremely proud of the way we fought to get back in the game. Unfortunately, it took us nearly three quarters to start playing hard."
It was back-and-forth from the tip until a seven-point run by Rocky made it 13-8 Battlin' Bears with under three minutes to play in the first frame. Nielson broke up the run with a 3-pointer around the two-minute mark. The Rocky lead grew to 21-11 by the end of the first 10 minutes.
Burlage scored the first basket of the second quarter at 8:36, and Jansen Edmiston found the basket at 6:38 to bring the score to 23-15. Burlage used an assist from Edmiston to cut the deficit to 23-17 with 5:50 to play in the half. Burlage and Nielson went back-to-back, scoring within a minute of each other to bring LC State within four at 25-21, but Rocky regained momentum to stretch the advantage back out to 31-21 at 2:58. Rocky led 40-28 at the half.
Burlage scored LC's first points in the second half on an assist from Nielson. Peyton Souvenir found Edmiston at 7:23 to bring the Warriors within 10. The Battlin' Bear continued to pull away from LC State and held a 56-45 lead heading into the fourth.
The Warriors came storming back in the fourth, falling just short of a comeback. Hannah Burland scored her first basket of the night to begin the final quarter, and Edmiston followed to make it 49-56 at 8:59. The Warriors converted Rocky turnovers, chipping away to come within five at 64-59 midway through. Burland grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back to make it 64-61. Souvenir made it a one-point game at 3:25, but the Battlin' Bears hung on to win 71-65.
Burlage led the Warriors with 25 points, and Edmiston added 18. Abbie Johnson grabbed six rebounds.
Rocky won the battle at the boards 42-24 and shot 55.1 percent from the field.
"You have to give Rocky credit because they shot the ball well all game long," Orr said, "but we gave them a lot of open looks. That has to end. Starting right now we have to be tougher, especially on the defensive boards. With only one regular-season game left, we need to defend with a sense of urgency."
The Warriors wrap up the regular season on Saturday at No. 17 Montana Western at 4:30 p.m. PT.
