LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State Women’s Basketball team earned a hard-fought 68-67 victory over the NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific Falcons on Friday night. The Warriors edged SPU on the road and clinched the win with a layup from Abby Farmer after heading into the final quarter tied at 52. The defense was the difference maker in a game where LC State forced 29 turnovers, grabbed 16 steals and blocked five shots.
“This was a big win,” Head Coach Brian Orr said. “Tonight, we were able to beat a quality team on the road. I was really happy with our defensive effort and I thought our full-court pressure was the difference in the game.”
Jansen Edmiston put the Warriors in front 3-2 with a triple on an assist from Peyton Souvenir. The teams traded points, with Kiara Burlage tying things up 10-10 with a 3 at 4:00. Another 3-pointer, this time from Rachel Schroeder, gave LC State a 13-12 edge, and Burlage had the Warriors up 16-15 after the first 10 minutes.
The Warriors continued to drain 3s as Edmiston hit one at 8:25 to put LC in front 19-18. Farmer followed a 3-pointer with a layup to make it 26-24 in favor of the Warriors with 3:03 left in the half, but the Falcons rallied to take a 36-31 advantage into the locker room.
SPU pushed its lead out to as far as eight points in the first two minutes of the third quarter, but 10 straight points from the Warrior women put LC State back in front 50-47 with 2:11 on the clock. Souvenir chipped in six points during the run, and the scored sat tied 52-52 after the third frame.
Back-to-back layups by Maddie Holm and Burlage gave the Warriors a slim cushion in the first minute before SPU pulled ahead by four halfway through. Trailing 67-63, LC State struck for five-unanswered points and held the Falcons off the board for the final five minutes of the contest. Edmiston hit a 3-pointer with 3:33 left the play and Farmer finished SPU off with the game-winning layup to make it 68-67.
Edmiston and Burlage led the game with 19 points each, and Farmer added 10. The Warriors were strong defensively with six athletes grabbing at least three rebounds.
“Offensively we struggled to get into any consistent rhythm, but credit SPU’s defense,” Orr said. “They forced several turnovers. We had several players step up and make bug plays when we needed it the most.”
Abbie Johnson led the team with five to go with seven points, four steals and two blocks. Souvenir led the game with a career-high six steals.
The Warriors shot 43.9 percent from the field in a game where the defense shined. LC State forced 29 SPU turnovers, had 16 steals and blocked five shots. Six different Warriors tallied a steal in the contest.
LC State wraps up the series at Seattle Pacific on Saturday at 2 p.m. Links to follow the action can be found at lcwarriors.com.