LEWISTON, Idaho – It was a slow start for the Warrior women on Tuesday night in the quarterfinal of the 2021-22 Cascade Conference Women's Basketball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, but the No. 21 LC State women overcame the deficit late to defeat the eighth-seeded College of Idaho Yotes 61-58.
Tuesday's contest marked the seventh time the two programs had met in the last two seasons, and LC made it seven victories with big contributions from
Callie Stevens and
Sara Muehlhausen. After trailing 30-26 at the half, the Warrior women outscored the Yotes 21-17 in the fourth quarter.
The Yotes tallied the game's first four points before Muehlausen dropped a bucket in for the Warriors. Another basket by Muehlhausen tied things up before a
Callie Stevens free throw put LC up 5-4. Stevens made it 8-6 with a triple before going back-to-back with Broyles to push the advantage to 12-8 by 4:53.
C of I kept it close throughout the first frame, not letting the difference grow to more than four before taking a 15-14 lead on a triple in the last 25 seconds. The Yotes' advantage continued to grow in the second quarter to 24-15 before a layup by Muehlhausen snapped the skid midway through.
The Warriors struck for six straight with bucket by Holm and Muehlhausen to cut the deficit to 27-24.
Rachel Schroeder turned a steal and assist by
Ellie Sander into a layup to make it a 30-26 game at the break.
Stevens, Muehlhausen and
Heidi Sellmann got LC off to a 7-0 start in the third quarter, but C of I rallied to regain the lead shortly after. Sander landed a jumper to make it a one-possession difference before draining a 3 to put the Warriors in the lead at 2:31.
The advantage was short-lived as the Yotes answered to continue the back-and-forth. The Warriors trailed 41-40 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Mataya Green put up the first points of the fourth quarter and was followed by a layup by Stevens to push the lead to 44-41 at 8:36. Green broke up a 48-48 tie with a jumper at 4:32, and Stevens added another five points to grow the advantage to 55-48 with three minutes to play.
A steal by Stevens was converted into a basket by Sander to keep the momentum going for the Warrior women. Muehlhausen scored on an inbounded ball to make it 59-55, but C of I answered with a 3 to make it a one-point game with 14 seconds to play.
Free throws by Stevens gave LC a 61-58 edge, and a defensive rebound by Sellmann marked the end of the contest.
Stevens led all scorers with 19 points in the contest. She hit three 3s, grabbed three rebounds, dealt two assists and had two steals. Muehlhausen added 15 points and grabbed a team-high nine boards. Freshman Sander put up nine points, led the team with three assists and tallied three steals.
The Warriors advance to the CCC semifinals and will host fourth-seeded Bushnell University on Friday at 7 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center. Tickets are available now on lcwarriors.com/tickets.
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