MEN'S TENNIS

The Warrior Men’s Tennis team (2-3) hits the road this week for a pair of NAIA contests in Arizona. LC State will start the trip with a match with Paradise Valley CC that will not count toward the team’s overall record, but will factor into individual records. 

LC State will take on Arizona Christian (0-3) on Friday for the first time since 2022. The Warriors are 0-5 against the Firestorm since 2017 with a pair of 4-3 losses in Arizona in 2022. LC takes on Ottawa (Ariz.) (0-3) on Saturday. The Warriors are 0-2 all-time against OUAZ and fell 4-3 in 2022. 

The Warriors are coming off a gritty loss to NCAA Division I Montana that showed LC State’s improvement so far this season. Every match was close, and senior Alvaro Camino defeated his DI opponent in No. 5 singles. 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

LC State Women’s Basketball (21-5, 15-5) needs one win to secure a host spot in the first round of the Cascade Conference postseason tournament. The Warriors travel to Oregon this weekend to wrap up the regular season at Corban (Ore.) (10-16, 8-12) and Bushnell (Ore.) (10-16, 9-11).

LC State is 12-1 against Corban since 2004 and defeated the CCC’s other Warrior team 94-48 this season in Lewiston. Darian Herring completed LC State’s first triple-double, male or female, with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. She was named the NAIA National Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Week for the accomplishment. Sitara Byrd scored 26 points in the contest and Ellie Sander added 21 points with five steals. The LC defense held Corban it 33.9% shooting and forced 27 turnovers. 

The LC Warriors are 9-1 against Bushnell since 2009 and won 71-50 against the Beacons in Lewiston earlier this season. Sander led LC State in scoring with 18 points and added three blocks and three steals, and Herring blocked eight shots. Byrd grabbed 10 rebounds and had five steals. Bushnell’s Libby Mathis finished the contest with 13 rebounds and 12 points, but the LC State defense held BU to just 27.9% shooting from the field.

Mathis is second in the conference in rebounding (9.3).

LC State leads the CCC in blocked shots per game (5.0), assists per game (17.6), steals per game (12.8) and turnover margin (7.12). Herring leads the conference in field goal percentage (.577), Sander is third (.543) and Mataya Green is fifth (.523). Sander leads in steals per game (3.1) and Herring leads the NAIA in blocks (71). She is seven blocks away from tying the single-season record. 

MEN'S BASKETBALL

LC State Men’s Basketball (20-6, 15-5) was named the Cascade Conference Team of the Week and swept the individual awards after huge wins over No. 24 Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon last weekend. The Warriors wrap up the regular season on the road against Corban (Ore.) (14-12, 12-8) and Bushnell (Ore.) (12-14, 8-12). LC State has clinched a host spot in the CCC postseason tournament with seeding being determined by play this week.

The LC State Warriors are 12-3 against Corban since 2005 and defeated the other CCC Warriors 82-55 in Lewiston this season. Alton Hamilton, the reigning CCC Defensive Player of the Week, led the contest in scoring with 20 points and John Lustig, this week’s conference Offensive Player of the Week, scored 15 points with seven rebounds. Corban’s Luc Krystkowiak led his team with 13 points and eight rebounds. LC State held Corban to 32.3% shooting from the field and 23.8% from 3-point range. 

The LC Warriors are 7-2 against Bushnell since 2009, but fell to the Beacons 89-78 this season at home. Lustig led the contest with 21 points and Hamilton added 19, while Bushnell’s Cory Johnson tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Beacon’s Luke Smith is third in free throw percentage (.865) and Squeeky Johnson is second in 3-pointer made per game (2.3).

Hamilton leads the CCC in rebounding (10.0) and is second in scoring (17.0). He is the only player in the conference currently averaging a double-double. He ranks second in blocked shots per game (1.1).

BASEBALL

No. 7 LC State Baseball (2-4) opens Cascade Conference play this weekend with a series at College of Idaho (10-2) Feb. 22-24. The series was supposed to be LC State’s home opener, but weather forced the Warriors to head south to Caldwell. LC State will now host the Yotes in April. The first three games of the series will count towards CCC records while the fourth will be a non-conference game.

The Warriors are 97-16 against C of I since 2009 and went 6-2 against the Yotes in Caldwell. LC State split the series at College of Idaho last season and swept the in-state rival at home. Charlie Updegrave drove in six runs in the series at Harris Field while Brandon Cabrera and Dominic Signorelli each knocked in four. 

The Warriors have not been on the field since playing in Florida and had their series with NCAA Division II Western Oregon cancelled by snow. The Yotes, meanwhile, have played at home the last two weekends where they earned series wins against DII Central Washington and Embry-Riddle (Ariz.).

Through the first six games of the season, junior Noah Weintraub is slashing .500/.727/.571 while Updegrave and Cabrera have each driven in eight runs. C of I’s Jack Ingraham is hitting .452 while Austin Moon and Darren Smith have each driven in 17 runs. 

DANCE

Warrior Dance will compete for the second time this season after setting a program record at the first event of the season. LC State placed seventh at the York Crown Classic with a score of 76.1 and will compete in its first dual of the year against Carroll (Mont.) in Helena. 

The dual on Friday is the first of two meetings between the only two NAIA dance teams in the region this season. The Warriors will be in Montana on Saturday before the Fighting Saints come to Lewiston in March.