LEWISTON, Idaho – It was a big night for Kiara Burlage and Peyton Souvenir with both reaching milestones in their careers. Burlage became the 21^st Warrior to join women's basketball's 1,000-Point Club, and Souvenir scored a career-high with her team-leading 23 points. The No. 24 Warriors fought until the final second, but a last-chance 3-pointer earned Montana State-Billings the 82-81 victory in overtime.
 
"There were a lot of positives that we could take from this, but honestly our defense let us down in the second half," Head Coach Brian Orr said. "Last night they (MSUB) had to work for everything, but were just weren't there on the catch. You have to give them a lot of credit, it's a tough trip.
 
"We did do some things really well," Orr continued. "I was really proud of the way Peyton played today. She ran the offense as well as she's ever run it. Down the stretch, she made the calls to get us the lead and to tie it. I was really proud of her."
 
The Yellow Jackets came out of the gates looking to avenge their loss to the Warriors the night prior. They put up 14 points in the opening quarter and held LC to nine. LC State turned things around in the second and outscored MSUB 22-14.
 
Trailing 18-12 in the second quarter, Souvenir found Abby Farmer to start a seven-point run that was capped by a 3 by Souvenir. The rally put the Warriors ahead 19-18 at 6:37. The teams matched each other, nearly shot for shot, before a 3 by Burlage at the buzzer gave LC State a 31-28 lead at the half.
 
MSUB answered in the second half with a run of nine to take a 37-31 advantage. An and-one play by Burlage evened things up 39-39 before a free throw from Sounveir and basket by Abbie Johnson put LC in front 42-39. A pair of foul shots by Burlage sent the Warriors into the fourth with a 50-45 lead.
 
The back-and-forth continued in the final quarter of regulation with each team never leading by more than three points. The game went to overtime tied 68-68.
 
LC and MSUB stayed within two points of each through the entire overtime period. Burlage put the Warriors in front 81-79 with four seconds left, but a last-chance 3-point shot by MSUB's Addison Gardner fell as the buzzer sounded. The Yellow Jackets won 82-81.
 
Souvenir led all scorers with a career-high 23 points in the contest. She drained five 3s to tie a career-best. She had four steals and nine assists. Johnson followed up her career-high last night with another 22 points on a career-best 10 field goals made. Edmiston rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.
 
Burlage tallied 19 and led the with nine rebounds in her milestone game.
 
"She is one of those players that is so hard to guard," Orr said. "She drives the ball well and can shoot the 3, and she makes free throws at a high rate, so you have to have someone thinking to defend a post player and defend the perimeter. She is one of our best athletes. She runs the floor, and the things she has done she has worked at."
 
The starting five for LC State scored all 81 points, and three of the five played 41 minutes.
 
The Warrior women turn their attention to the Cascade Conference Playoff. LC State will host the College of Idaho in game one of the best-of-three series on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
 
"It seems so strange that we are going to play a conference tournament game on Wednesday," Orr said. "It is going to be business as usual for us, and we want to come out and play our best basketball."
 
The Cascade Conference is not allowing spectators for the playoff games, but all contests will be streamed by the host team. The game in Lewiston will be available on the Warrior Sports Network for $9.99.
 
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