LEWISTON, Idaho – The Warrior women faced off against a familiar foe in No. 20 Carroll College in the final game of the Carroll Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday, and fell 99-48. Kiara Burlage led the Warrior scoring efforts with 15 points.
“This is the kind of game you want to forget about,” Head Coach Brian Orr said. “We got our tails kicked by a really good team. I think that is probably the best Carroll team we have seen. They outplayed us in every aspect. We couldn’t match their effort or their physical play.”
Carroll was hot out of the gate and struck for five straight points before Abbie Johnson got the Warriors on the board with a free throw. A 3 by Carroll grew the advantage to 11-1 and the Fighting Saints continued to charge ahead, pushing the lead to 15-4.
Jansen Edmiston kick-started the offense a 3-pointer to make it 23-11, then Abby Farmer found Edmiston on a deep pass for another 3 to bring the Warriors within nine. A three-point play by Burlage made it 23-17 with a minute to play, and Farmer made an impressive, off-balance basket to end the quarter with LC State trailing 25-19.
Alexis Sykora got the scoring started for the Warriors in the second quarter, keeping the game within reach at 27-21. Burlage hit a deep 3 to cut the deficit to 27-24 just over a minute in, but a small run by Carroll made it 32-25 with six minutes to play in the half. Rachel Schroeder drained a triple on an assist from Burlage, and Johnson was good on a pair of free throws to make it 37-32 with 3:17 on the clock.
Sara Muhelhausen found the basket as the clock ran down, but the Saints controlled the half with a 46-37 lead at the break.
Edmiston opened the scoring in the second half with an assist from Johnson, but Carroll quickly answered with a 3 to stay in control. By 5:44, the Saints had grown their advantage to 59-41 and outscored the Warriors 31-7 in the frame.
After outscoring the Warriors 53-11 in the second half, Carroll took the game 99-48.
Burlage led the Warriors with 15 points in the game, and Edmiston added 10 points and seven rebounds.
“We had too many days off because of return-to-play protocols and not enough time to get in shape for our second game against a team as aggressive as they were tonight,” Orr explained. “We couldn’t make a shot in the second half and Carroll couldn’t miss. It was an embarrassing loss that we need to use as motivation to get tougher.”