Women's Basketball | 03.06.2023
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 10 Warrior women, a three-seed in the tournament, begin their march to the final site on Tuesday in the 2023 NAIA Women's Basketball Championship First Round, presented by Ballogy. LC State will open the tournament with Simpson (Calif.) with the winner moving on to face the winner of (RV) Rocky Mountain (Mont.) and (RV) Menlo (Calif.).
Tickets are on sale now at lcwarriors.com/tickets and streaming passes can be purchased at lcwarriors.com/watch. Links to purchase both, as well as team information and a schedule, can be found on the TOURNAMENT CENTRAL PAGE.
NO. 3 SEED – Lewis-Clark State (28-3, 21-1)
The Warriors finished a nearly perfect conference season with the only loss coming to conference co-champion EOU in overtime. The only other blemish in the regular season was a season-opening loss to then-No. 2 Westmont. After game one, LC State won 19 straight for the fourth-longest winning streak in program history, including wins over then-No. 25 Rocky Mountain and then-No. 9 Carroll.
LC State last faced Simpson in 2014 and came away with a 78-32 win. The Warriors are 3-0 against the Red Hawks all-time. LC is also 3-0 against Menlo all-time, with the last meeting being a 64-59 victory in 2019. The Warriors have a long history with former Frontier Conference opponent RMC and hold a 45-12 record against the Battlin' Bears. LC defeated Rocky twice this season.
The Warriors had four players earn all-conference honors, including Cascade Conference Player of the Year Callie Stevens. The junior earned the title for the second year in a row, becoming only the second Warrior to do so. She is averaging 14.4 points per game and leads the CCC in assists this season with 113. Stevens scored the 1,000th point of her career during the final weekend of the regular season, doing so in two seasons. She is currently tied for eighth all-time in 3-pointers made with 160. Stevens improved her all-around game with career-highs in rebounds (97), assists and steals (54) this season.
Maddie Holm and Hannah Broyles also earned First-Team All-CCC honors, with Holm doing so for the second straight season. She currently leads the team in rebounding with 8.4 per game to go with her 10.1 points per contest. With three seasons under her belt, Holm ranks fourth all-time in rebounds per game (8.0). The junior leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.408) with 29 triples made this season. She is tied for second on the team in blocks (18) and had 48 steals and 48 assists so far this season.
Moscow native Broyles has been the most dangerous 3-point shooter in the Cascade this season with a conference-leading 89 triples. The next closest in the CCC is 75. The senior has had a breakout season and ranks second on the team in scoring with 13.0 points per game. She is shooting .390 from the field and .366 from 3-point range heading into the national tournament. Broyles has tallied 50 steals and 71 assists so far this season.
Ellie Sander earned honorable mention honors after stepping into a starting role this season. The Spokane, Wash., native leads the CCC in steals (71) and steals per game (2.3) this season, and is the most efficient scorer on the team with a .489 field goal percentage. Sander, at 5-foot-9, is tied for second on the team in blocks with 18. She is averaging 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and is second on the team in assists with 77.
Off the bench, conference Freshman of the Year Sitara Byrd is also a threat on the boards. Senior Sara Muehlhausen leads the team with 67 blocks.
The Warriors are second in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.330) and rank 10th in blocks per game (4.2). LC State leads the CCC in steals per game (11.2), turnover margin (6.06) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3).
NO. 6 SEED – Menlo (Calif.) (21-9, 12-5)
The Oaks finished the regular season 21-9 including a nine-game win streak through January and went 16-3 through their final 19 games. In the GSAC, Menlo was first in points per game (73.2), field goal percentage (43.7) and assists per game (17.0). The team also held top-five marks in the conference for steals per game (11.0) and 3-point percentage (33.6). Menlo earned an at-large bid into the tournament.
The Oaks dropped contests to CCC teams Oregon Tech (64-59) and (RV) Southern Oregon (75-57) to begin the season, and defeated Simpson twice by finals of 77-55 and 72-58. One of Menlo's victories this season includes an upset over Westmont (77-67). The Oaks beat Vanguard (Calif.) 77-71 in the GSAC tournament semifinal before falling to Hope International (Calif.) 90-73 in the title game.
Menlo is led by a pair of GSAC all-conference players in Kiara Brown and Vivian Woo. Brown has put together a dominant season scoring in double figures in every game and scored her 1,000th point. Brown is averaging 19.8 points per game alongside 9.2 rebounds per contest. Senior Vivian Woo spent the season leading the Oaks perimeter attack. Woo enters the tournament with averages of 11 points a night while shooting 37-percent from 3-point range.
NO. 11 SEED – Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (19-10, 10-5)
The Battlin' Bears earned an at-large bid into the tournament. Rocky defeated MSU-Northern 70-61 in the Frontier Conference quarterfinal before falling to No. 15 Montana Western 64-55 in the semifinal round. The only win over a ranked opponent this season was a 58-51 upset of No. 11 Carroll.
Rocky traveled to Lewiston in November and took on the Warriors in back-to-back games. LC took the first meeting 95-69 before winning in double-overtime 80-73.
Senior Kloie Thatcher earned her fifth all-conference nod this season and first first-team selection after leading RMC in scoring with 11.6 points per game. The 2018-19 Frontier Conference Freshman of the Year is averaging 3.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game heading into the national tournament. Gracee Lekvold was voted the conference Defensive Player of the Year averaging 6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
Morgain Baird was named Co-Sixth Player of the Year after averaging 9.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. She is shooting .560 from the field and .800 from the free throw line.
NO. 14 SEED – Simpson (Calif.) (20-10, 16-4)
The Red Hawks earned an automatic berth to the national tournament as the runner-up of the Cal Pac tournament. This is the program's first appearance in the national tournament.
Simpson fell to Menlo twice this season and lost the CCC member Oregon Tech 69-61. The Red Hawks defeated Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 71-65 to advance to the conference title game where they fell 69-65 to Antelope Valley (Calif.).
Celina Tress leads the Red Hawks in scoring and rebounding this season with 16.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She is shooting .576 from the field heading into the tournament. Livi Lindsey, a graduate transfer from CCC member Northwest, was the Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Year last season and is averaging 12.6 points per game at Simpson.
