ROCKLIN, Calif. – The Lewis-Clark State Women's Basketball team (5-0) picked up its fifth straight victory in a hard-fought battle against the William Jessup Warriors on Friday night. Maddie Holm notched a double-double to help lead the Warriors to a 65-60 victory on the road. The game was a rematch of the 2021 NAIA Opening Round in Lewiston in which LC State came away with a 73-44 win.
 
"The one thing that has been consistent so far this season is every game has been close and every possession is a battle," Head Coach Brian Orr explained. "This was a completely different team than the one we faced in last year's Opening Round. Their pressure defense made it really hard to run our offense, but we kept attacking and eventually we were able to find the open player and we hit some big shots."
 
WJU struck in the first 15 seconds, but an uncontested 3 by Callie Stevens put LC in front at 7:55. Free throws put the hosting Warriors in front 4-3 before a clutch 3-pointer by Rachel Schroeder gave LC the lead once again at 6-4. Adyson Clabby and Heidi Sellmann went back-to-back to keep the LC Warriors in the lead 10-8, but Jessup answered to keep it a back-and-forth contest.
 
Ellie Sander and Hannah Broyles scored two straight LC baskets, but the score sat tied 14-14 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
 
LC jumped ahead 16-14 with a layup by Mataya Green in the first 20 seconds of the second quarter. Stevens was fouled after a steal by Maddie Holm and made the first of two free throws before Holm put back a missed foul shot to make it a 19-14 advantage.
 
Sellmann and Stevens struck for five straight, but back-to-back 3-pointers by WJU kept the LC lead to just four, 24-20, with 5:31 to play in the half. Holm hit a triple to push the margin to seven, then added another jumper to make it 29-22 at 2:53. Hannah Broyles drained a 3 in the final minute, but Jessup answered with two triples to cut LC's advantage to 33-28 at the break.
 
The third quarter started with a 3-pointer by William Jessup, but LC State answered with a 3 by Sellmann and a layup by Broyles, made possible by a block by Muehlhausen. Sellmann added another two baskets to the LC total to help the visiting Warriors maintain a slim lead.
 
Holm put back an offensive rebound to keep LC ahead by three as WJU continued to answer each basket. Clabby hit a triple at the buzzer to send LC State into the final quarter leading 50-44.
 
Jessup continued to pressure LC State in the final 10 minutes and cut the margin to two multiple times, but a pair of clutch 3-pointers by Stevens pushed the advantage to 63-55 with 3:55 on the clock. Muehlhausen grew the difference to 10 with a layup to cap the eight-point run at 2:56 and help LC State to a 65-60 victory.
 
Holm notched her third double-double in five games with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with four assists. Stevens also dropped 13 points, including four 3-pointers, and Sellmann added 11 on a 5-for-5 performance from the field with nine boards.
 
As a team, LC State shot 45.6 percent from the field and held WJU to 36.1 percent. The LC Warriors outrebounded Jessup 34-28.
 
"We had great energy on defense and I was really proud of our rebounding efforts on both ends," Orr said. "It was another hard-fought team effort."
 
The Warriors wrap up the tournament on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. with a contest against Pacific Union College (Calif.).
 
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