Women's Basketball | 10.23.2026

LEWISTON, Idaho – LC State Women's Basketball begins its 2026-27 campaign under fourth-year head coach Caelyn Orlandi this weekend in Spokane at the Northwest Crossover Classic. The Warrior women return an experienced group of student-athletes that will look to bring five freshmen up to speed as the season gets going.
 
LC State graduated a talented senior class that included All-Cascade Conference honorees Sitara Byrd and Payton Hymas, as well as fellow four-year Warriors in Lindsey Wilson, Camden Barger and Ella Nelson. The group left a big impact on the program, but set the stage well for another strong senior class in Darian Herring, Tatum Brager, Grace Beardin and Ellee Brockman.
 
Herring earned All-Cascade Conference honors last season, along with junior Kendall Wallace, and is on pace to set the LC State career blocks record this season. She averaged 2.4 per game last season and led the CCC with 81 total, along with her conference-best 9.0 rebounds per game. Offensively, Herring shot .468 from the field and averaged 11.5 points per game. She was second on the team with 114 assists.
 
Wallace, a native of Clarkston, Wash., was second in the Cascade in 3-pointers made last season with 73 and was fourth in 3-point percentage (.408). As a sophomore, she averaged 10.5 points per game and became one of the biggest scoring threats in the conference down the stretch, as well as a key defensive tool with 57 steals.
 
Senior Brager, who was second on the team in 3-pointers with 59, made a statement on the national stage last season as the leading scorer for LC State against then-No. 3 Bethel (Tenn.) in the NAIA Round of 16. She dropped 23 points with seven 3-pointers in the contest which ranked fourth in a single game at LC State. Beardin also returns for her fourth season as a Warrior after stepping into a bigger role last year. The Orofino native was third on the team in defensive rebounds with 86 and knocked down 23 triples.
 
"I hold our team to high standards, and we shoot for those standards," Orlandi said. "Darian stuffs the stat sheet, Kendall shoots the ball extremely well and defends at a high level. I expect Tatum to have her best season yet. She has become a tremendous leader and is playing extremely well. All our upperclassmen have made great strides this summer in improving their games and I look forward to seeing it in action this weekend."
 
The Warriors added five fresh faces to the roster this year in freshmen Hali Anderson, Lucy Teegarden, Ellalee Wortham, Kiana Skogstad and Kaylee Cordle.
 
"All five of our freshmen were recruited to this team for a reason and are showing their skill set, dedication and hard work through the first few weeks of practice," Orlandi explained. "They compete fiercely and each bring a different on-court skill. I have high expectations of all of them this season. They don't get the luxury of making freshmen mistakes; they have to be ready to compete, and they are."
 
Warrior fans will have plenty of opportunities to catch LC State at home this season, and close to home in the non-conference slate.
 
LC State opens the season close to home at the Northwest Crossover Classic, hosted at Saint George's School, Oct. 24-25. The Warriors will be tested right out of the gate with a matchup against No. 12 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in the season opener. LC State will close out the first weekend against Montana Western.
 
The Warriors host a pair of non-conference tournaments this season, starting with the LC State Classic in the P1FCU Activity Center Oct. 31-Nov. 1. LC State will face Park-Gilbert (Ariz.) and No. 24 Carroll (Mont.) before a trip to North Dakota to take on Bismarck State (N.D.) and Dickinson State (N.D.). The Warriors host the Guardian Heating, Plumbing and A/C Classic Nov. 13-14 with The Master's (Calif.) and Arizona Christian in town.
 
"We have an extremely tough non-conference schedule," Orlandi added. "We open up with the No. 12 team in the country and are going to get tested right away. We have to schedule high-quality opponents for our non-conference games and I believe we did just that. Every game is going to be extremely important. Playing games at home in front of your home crowd is always the best, but this team loves to compete, and they are thankful for any place they get to play games." 
 
Cascade Conference play starts on Dec. 4-5 when LC State welcomes (RV) Eastern Oregon and No. 22 College of Idaho to the P1FCU Activity Center. The first CCC road trip is the longest as the Warriors head to Southern Oregon and No. 23 Oregon Tech, then return home to host Bushnell (Ore.) and reigning Cascade Conference champion (RV) Corban (Ore.) in the first weekend of 2027.
 
LC State was picked to finish fourth in the CCC preseason coaches poll behind College of Idaho, Oregon Tech and Corban. EOU was picked fifth followed by Southern Oregon, Northwest (Wash.), Bushnell, Warner Pacific (Ore.), Evergreen State (Wash.) and Walla Walla (Wash.), respectively.
 
"I expect the CCC to be as competitive as it was last season," Orlandi said. "High-level teams competing at the national level is what the conference has been doing the last few seasons. I don't think this season will be any different. Every game will be great competition."
 
Tickets for the 2026-27 LC State Basketball season are on sale now at lcwarriors.com/tickets.
 
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