LEWISTON– The No. 7 LC State Women’s Basketball team pushed its winning streak to 11 games on Saturday with a hard-fought victory over Eastern Oregon. Callie Stevens scored 29 points to lead the contest and the Warrior women shot 47.4% from the field in the 63-59 win.
“Our team battled so hard tonight and I am so incredibly proud of their poise and relentless work ethic,” Head Coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “Eastern Oregon is a great team, well coached, and shoots and rebounds the ball very well. Every time we started to pull away, Eastern Oregon fought back into the game. Our team found a way to win tonight and protect our home court.”
With a spot in the Cascade Conference postseason tournament secured, LC State is 19-2 on the season and 15-1 in CCC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Stevens scored the first four points of the contest before draining a 3 to a 7-5 LC State lead at 8:31. The triple was followed by back-to-back baskets by Ellie Sander and Sitara Byrd to make it 11-5 by 6:08 before EOU came firing back to tie the game 15-15 after 10 minutes.
Lindsey Wilson opened the scoring in the second frame and Sander hit a 3 to keep the Warriors in front by a slim margin. The Mountaineers pulled ahead 30-25, but three straight baskets by Sander and Darian Herring sent LC to the locker room with a 31-30 lead.
A layup by Mataya Green capped the Warrior run at eight points as the first basket in the second half. EOU answered with a 3 to tie it 33-33, 30 seconds in, but six straight points from Stevens and a layup by Wilson put the Warriors back in front 41-33. The two teams battled back-and-forth to send the contest into the final frame tied 46-46.
Sander sparked the LC offense with a fastbreak layup and tallied five consecutive points to give the Warriors a 51-46 advantage at 7:07. EOU and LC State traded baskets in the final minutes and the Mountaineers held a 59-58 lead with two minutes to play before five points from Stevens gave LC State the 63-59 victory.
Stevens led all scorers with 29 points on 11 field goals and five 3-pointers. She led the Warrior with four assists on the night. Sander scored 12 points and had four steals, and Byrd and Herring each grabbed seven rebounds.
Brie Holecek led Eastern Oregon with 17 points and Beverly Slater grabbed 11 rebounds. Haley Robinett and Bayley Brennan each scored 12 points.
UP NEXT
The Warriors head to Oregon to take on Bushnell and Corban next weekend.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
