LEWISTON, Idaho – Abbie Johnson tallied a career-high 26 points to help the No. 24 Lewis-Clark State Women’s Basketball team edge the visiting NCAA DII Montana State-Billings Yellow Jackets 67-61 on Friday night. The Warriors jumped out to an early lead, but had to battle to keep the advantage through all 40 minutes. With the victory, LC is now 10-4 on the season.
“We know this team is a great team, so we’ve been working all week defensively and I think every girl showed up tonight,” Johnson said. “We came out knowing it was a big game for us and I think we came out really strong.”
A basket from Abby Farmer gave the Warriors a 3-2 lead at 8:03 in the opening frame, and the Warriors did not fall behind for the rest of the game. A 10-0 run with baskets from Farmer, Kiara Burlage and Johnson fueled a 25-16 first quarter.
The Yellow Jackets fought an even battle in the second. MSUB matched the Warriors nearly shot-for-shot to stay within 10 at the break. Johnson scored the final five points for LC State in the half to send the Warriors to the locker room leading 38-28.
MSUB rallied to outscore LC State 17-9 in the third. Burlage scored the first seven LC points in the quarter before Johnson drained a pair of free throws to keep the Warriors ahead by a slim margin, 47-45.
Heidi Sellmann and Maddie Holm came off the bench and made big baskets to build momentum in the fourth quarter. Free throws by Johnson broke a 55-55 tie with 3:22 to play, and Peyton Souvenir added on with a basket to make it 59-55. Burlage and Johnson went back-to-back in the final minute and a half before free throws from Jansen Edmiston and Johnson finished off the game.
Johnson led all scorers with 26 points. She grabbed eight rebounds to go with four steals. The senior made 13 free throws in the game. Burlage added 18 points and seven boards in the contest. Farmer dished six assists to go with seven points.
“I think our whole team was moving the ball well,” Johnson said. “We were setting good screens and pushing the ball. We were looking for each other and I just think it was a team effort. I couldn’t have done that (26 points) without the passes and the screens. Overall, we did well offensively and got big stops on defense.”
As a team, the Warriors shot 40.4 percent from the field. They held MSUB to 32.9 percent shooting and forced 21 turnovers.
The Warrior women wrap up the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. when they conclude the season series with the Yellow Jackets. LC State will take on College of Idaho on Feb. 17 in game one of the Cascade Conference Playoffs.