LEWISTON, Idaho – LC State Women's Basketball, receiving votes in the national poll, handed Park-Gilbert (Ariz.) its first loss of the season with its 98-52 victory to open the LC State Classic. The Warrior defense was lights out with 19 steals and 30 forced turnovers while the offense shot more than 51% from the field.
"Fun win for our first home game of the season. It's always encouraging when your team can see the basketball go through the net," coach Caelyn Orlandi said. "I thought we did a tremendous job defensively tonight and were really great with steals, deflections and forced turnovers. When we can turn our defense into offense that is when we are best. There were tremendous performances today and overall, I thought our freshman did a great job. Tomorrow will be a great test against an extremely talented and athletic team."
The win is the first for LC State this season and improves the record to 1-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
A jumper by Tatum Brager started an 11-0 opening run by the Warriors that featured baskets by Grace Beardin, Kendall Wallace and Kaylee Cordle. A 3-pointer by Wallace sparked a run of 10 that was capped by Kiana Skogstad for a 23-4 lead with a minute on the clock, and Cordle closed out the frame with free throws for a 25-9 advantage after 10 minutes.
Brager started the second frame with back-to-back 3-pointers and Lucy Teegarden added a three-point play at 7:48 for a 34-11 margin. Madalyn Green, Wallace and Brager added on to make it a 12-point stretch for a 43-11 cushion at 5:32. Darian Herring sparked a seven-point rally that saw Hali Anderson move the advantage to 52-20 at the end of the half.
The Warriors maintained the momentum in the third frame as Cordle, Wallace, Brager and Herring opened the second half with a 12-0 run. Buckets by Cordle and Brager grew the lead to 68-23 by 5:42, and Skogstad and Wallace tallied baskets for a 73-27 margin at 2:35. Anderson tallied four points in the final minute, and Green added a layup for a 79-32 lead with 10 minutes to play.
Keira O'Neill scored the first six LC State points of the fourth quarter before Skogstad and Anderson added on to make it 89-44 at 4:32. Ellee Brockman, Skogstad and Green combined for a six-point run late in the frame and a foul shot by Brockman capped the scoring for LC State.
STAT RECAP
Wallace led all scorers with 23 points. She went 5-for-9 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 at the free throw line. She added six steals to her night. Brager tallied 15 points with three 3-pointers and three assists, and Cordle scored 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, four rebounds and two steals.
Herring filled up the stat sheet with a game-high seven boards, six points, five assists, five steals and two blocks. Green grabbed five rebounds and eight points, and Skogstad tallied nine points with four assists.
LC State forced 30 turnovers and had 19 steals. The Warriors held Park-Gilbert to 27.8% shooting from the field and shot 51.4% as a team.
UP NEXT
The Warriors wrap up the LC State Classic on Sunday at 3 p.m. against No. 24 Carroll (Mont.) in the P1FCU Activity Center.
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