EUGENE, Ore. – No. 21 LC State Women's Basketball clinched its 10th straight win with a 69-66 victory over Bushnell University on Friday. With the win, the Warriors are now 16-3 in conference play and are tied with Southern Oregon for the number-one spot in the standings.
Callie Stevens led the Warriors with her second 30-point game this season.
LC State built a lead to control the first half, but Bushnell came roaring back to eventually take the lead late in the game. Big performances from
Maddie Holm and
Ellie Sander helped fuel a late surge for the Warriors.
"I liked the first half a lot better than the second," Head Coach
Brian Orr said. "Callie came out on fire and our first half defense was pretty good. Give Bushnell a lot of credit. Their press forced us to turn it over and then they got hot. We struggled to make baskets in the third, and just like that, our halftime lead was gone. We got a couple of easy ones against their press to start the fourth, but they wouldn't go away.
Maddie Holm had a couple big baskets down the stretch and
Ellie Sander had one of her best games as a Warrior. Somehow, we survived 22 turnovers, but that's this team. They always find a way."
After a 4-0 Bushnell run, it was the Stevens show. The Warriors got on the board with a drive from Stevens and she followed up with another one right after. The sophomore accounted for the first 15 LC State points of the game, giving the Warriors a 15-6 advantage with under four minutes to go.
The Beacons cut the Warrior lead to 15-8, but Holm gave LC two more with a jumper, and Sander drew a foul under the basket shortly after to get to the line with 19 seconds left. The Warriors went into the second quarter with a 22-8 advantage after Sander drained a half-court buzzer-beater. Stevens owned 15 of the Warriors 22 points in the first quarter.
Stevens, with a sharp assist from Sander, put up two early on in the second frame and followed with a deep 3 to give the Warriors a 29-12 lead. Stevens sank a jumper from the free throw line to give her 22 points and help LC to a 31-18 margin.
Sara Muehlhausen drained a pair of free throws to cushion the lead out of the timeout and
Mataya Green converted on a pair of her own shortly after to give the Warriors a 35-18 advantage.
Hannah Broyles netted a floater with less than a minute on the clock and followed with a 3 on the next possession just before the buzzer to give LC a 40-25 lead heading into the locker room.
Holm got the Warriors started in the third quarter with a drive for two. The two teams battled back-and-forth before back-to-back 3s from the Beacons cut the Warrior lead from 44-34 and made it a 10-point game. Another run from the Beacons made it a five-point difference with 4:05 to go and forced a Warrior timeout.
With only a two-point Warrior lead, Muehlhausen came up with the offensive rebound and put it back to give LC a 46-42 lead with 2:08 on the clock. Muehlhausen extended the lead with a layup from under the basket and a steal from Sander finally slowed down the Beacon run. The Warriors ended the quarter with a last second layup from Sander to make it 50-44.
Holm set Muehlhausen up under the basket for a layup to start the final 10 minutes. The Beacons climbed their way back to tie the game at 54-54 with about seven minutes to go in the game, but Holm put LC back in front with a layup. Bushnell responded with a jumper to tie it up again and force a timeout from the Warrior bench.
LC trailed for the first time in the game, 58-56, with five minutes to play but Broyles tied it with a layup. A lob up to Sander from Holm gave the Warriors a one-point lead at 60-59 with 2:21 on the clock. The Beacons were on a roll offensively with both teams going back-and-forth until the final seconds. A defensive rebound from Muehlhausen and a jumper from Holm came in clutch to give the Warriors a 67-63 lead with 11 seconds on the clock.
The Beacons answered with a 3 to cut the Warrior lead 67-66 with six seconds to go in the game, but Stevens was able to draw a foul and capitalized on her free throws to edge out the Beacons and give the Warriors a 69-66 victory.
Stevens lead with 30 points and Holm and Sander each added 11. Muehlhausen had 11 rebounds, with Holm was just behind her with 10 to notch a double-double. The Warrior defense held Bushnell to a .325 shooting percentage, and just .220 from 3.
The Warriors travel to Salem, Ore., next to take on Corban on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
