BILLINGS, Mont. – 15 points from Abbie Johnson and 12 from Jansen Edmiston set the tone for No. 23 Lewis-Clark State Women’s Basketball in the 56-49 victory over NCAA DII Montana State Billings. The Warriors made the trip for a two-game set and earned the hard-fought win to open the series.
“Winning on the road is tough, and when you can win on the road and you don’t play your best basketball, those are the big wins,” Head Coach Brian Orr said.
The game got off to a slow start with just six points scored in the first six minutes. Kiara Burlage put the Warriors on the board 15 seconds in, and the defense held the Yellow Jackets off the board for the first three minutes.
MSUB rallied for nine points before LC got back in the scoring game with a pair of buckets by Abbie Johnson and a 3-pointer by Abby Farmer to bring the Warriors within three at 12-9. With less than a minute left in the opening quarter, Heidi Sellmann dropped in a layup to make it a two-point game.
Johnson wasted no time tying the game with a jumper in the opening seconds of the second frame, and Farmer gave LC its first lead of the game since the opening basket with a 3-pointer to make it 16-15 at 8:38. A triple by Jansen Edmiston kept the Warriors in front by a slim 19-17 margin.
The offensive attack by Johnson continued with five straight points, part of a seven-point run, to make it a 26-19 advantage.
Edmiston put back an offensive rebound for one last basket in the half and the Warriors led 28-21 at the break.
Burlage and Peyton Souvenir each dropped in layups to get the Warriors off to a good start in the third quarter. A 3 by Burlage pushed the lead to 35-23 at 5:51, and another by Edmiston made it 38-24.
Johnson tallied her first points of the half with a jumper on an assist from Edmiston at 2:18 and the Warriors carried a 40-34 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Maddie Holm hit a 3 before dishing an assist to the sharp-shooting Johnson to push the advantage to 45-26 early in the quarter. Souvenir pushed the difference to 11 points at 8:28.
The Yellow Jackets tried to pull themselves back into the game with a short rally to come within four, but free throws from Burlage, Edmiston and Souvenir kept the margin at six points with less than a minute to go.
The Warriors held off a final push by the Yellow Jackets and made five out of six free throws in the final 40 seconds to earn the 56-49 victory on the road.
“We struggled to make baskets all game and in the second half we got crushed on the boards and let MSUB stay close,” Orr explained. “I was happy with our defensive effort and the way we finished the last few minutes. We were able to hold the lead and close the deal.”
Johnson led the Warriors in scoring with 15 points. Edmiston tallied 12 points to go with four rebounds, three steals, one block and one assist. Burlage led the team with eight rebounds and scored nine points, while Souvenir dropped nine and had three steals.
LC State held MSUB to a 29.2 shooting percentage from the field and just 16.7 percent from 3-point range. The Warriors forced 18 turnovers and capitalized with 12 points off those turnovers.
The Warriors wrap up the road series with MSUB on Saturday at 2 p.m. PT. Links to watch the game can be found on lcwarriors.com.