LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 10 LC State Warrior women improved to 3-0 on the season after a 65-51 victory over Montana Tech to close out the Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic on Saturday. Ellie Sander scored 16 points to lead the team.
LC State pressured the Montana Tech offense to force turnovers that allowed the Warriors to pull away early. LC outrebounded the Orediggers 44-34.
"Effort is never lacking with this team and I am always so very proud of what they give on the floor," Head Coach Caelyn Orlandi said. "I thought our defense got off to a great start and we forced 19 turnovers in the game and capitalized on the turnovers with 26 points. We battled on the glass to come away with 21 second-chance points and that was big time. I believe rebounding is a big effort stat and the effort they put into the boards was great."
Callie Stevens and Payton Hymas were voted to the Twin Rivers Physical Therapy Classic All-Tournament Team.
"A big thanks to Twin Rivers Physical Therapy for being our tournament sponsor," Orlandi added. "We couldn't have made it happen without them."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors got out to a 30-16 lead after the first 10 minutes with seven points each from Sander and Hymas. Sander hit a 3 to open the scoring before Maddie Holm drained a jumper and Stevens nailed a triple to make it an 8-4 LC State lead by 7:06. Hymas completed a three-point play at 5:21 that was followed by 3-pointers from Holm and Stevens to keep the Warriors in front 18-12 a minute later.
A 3 by Ella Nelson sparked a run of 12 to close out the first quarter. Sander added an and-one play, Hymas added four points and Darian Herring scored two.
The second frame was more balanced with Tech outscoring LC 14-12. A layup by Herring and two free throws by Hymas had the Warrior advantage at 34-16 at 8:27, and buckets by Stevens and Lindsey Wilson made it 38-19 by 3:39. A layup by Grace Beardin was the final LC tally of the half to send the Warriors to the locker room with a 42-30 cushion.
Sander scored five straight points to start the third frame and LC ended the frame on an eight-point stretch. Nelson drained a 3 to start the rally, Holm netted a free throw, and Mataya Green and Hymas scored to make it 62-36 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Montana Tech shut the Warrior offense down in the fourth frame aside from a triple by Sander.
Sander led the contest with 16 points, Hymas had 11 and Holm added 10. Holm and Sitara Byrd each grabbed eight rebounds while Byrd and Nelson each had four assists. Holm snagged four steals.
UP NEXT
The Warriors will take a week off before they hit the road to take on No. 5 Carroll College (Mont.) and No. 18 Providence (Mont.) in Helena.
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