by LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team ended the regular season with a 61-58 win over the University of Montana Western on Saturday night at the Activity Center. Senior Tanis Fuller led the team with 21 points on Senior Night in front of a season-high crowd of 1,381.
“It was a good win. We needed it,” LCSC head coach Brian Orr said. “When you’re at home you expect to win more regularly, but that hasn’t been the case with our team during conference play, so to finish our Senior Night with a win is just much needed.”
After being outrebounded in their loss to Westminster on Thursday, the Warriors hustled their way to a 45-33 advantage in boards on Saturday including 19 rebounds on the offensive end. This advantage plus a few strong scoring efforts helped keep LC State a step ahead down the stretch.
LCSC finishes the regular season at 21-9 and 7-7 in the Frontier Conference. It will be the fifth seed in the league playoffs and will travel to face fourth-seeded Great Falls (21-8, 8-6) in Great Falls, Mont., on Tuesday. The Warriors beat the Argos 75-70 on the road back on Jan. 9, but fell to them 77-72 at home on Feb. 7.
“Our team still isn’t anywhere near peaking, that’s what I feel,” said Orr. “So every moment we get, every extra day we get to practice, every extra game we get is an opportunity for us to improve and to get to that level that I think we’re capable of.”
After an emotional Senior Night ceremony before the game honoring Fuller, McKenzie Heaslet,Shelby Barnes and Kelli Rice, Fuller turned in one of her strongest games of the year, hitting 10-of-15 shots from the floor including a clutch drive and layup with just over a minute to go.
Montana Western (10-20, 2-12) cut the lead down to one, 59-58, with 30 seconds left, but an offensive foul on the Bulldogs gave possession to the Warriors and they were able to ride out the final seconds.
Natahnee Spencer, (Nez Perce Tribe) who was 3-for-6 from the outside and aced two free throws at the very end, ended up with 15 points. Caelyn Orlandi had 11 points and seven rebounds, while Heaslet added seven points, six boards, and three blocks.
UMW was led by Lapwai, Idaho, product Sierra Higheagle (Nez Perce Tribe) who had 17 points and four boards. Kaci Matthies had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Warriors held only a narrow 40 percent to 37 percent shooting edge, but passed it well, tallying 16 assists, and led 15-5 in second chance points. LCSC shot 48 percent in the second half.
