(LEWISTON) – No. 13 LC State Women’s Basketball moved to 9-0 on the season after an 86-45 rout of Walla Walla (Wash.) on Wednesday in College Place. The Warriors shot over 50% from the field and outrebounded the Wolves 42-28. Ellie Sander led the charge with 16 points with four Warriors in double-figures.
“A great team win with contributions from every player tonight,” Head Coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “Having four in double-digits and having 20 assists is a great night for Warrior basketball. I loved the tremendous energy we came out with to start the game. I continue to love the way that we are defending and thought we did a great job rotating tonight defensively. We rebounded the ball extremely well as well.”
The Warriors are now 9-0 on the season and 4-0 in Cascade Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors opened the contest on an 11-0 run with baskets by Sander, Payton Hymas and Darian Herring. Sander, Camden Barger, Lindsey Wilson and Herring pushed the margin to 19-6 with 19 seconds to play in a dominant first quarter.
The run continued with a free throw by Wilson to give the Warriors a 21-6 lead 30 seconds into the second frame before a triple by Tatum Brager made it 24-8 at 8:55. The Wolves rallied for eight points before a layup by Herring snapped the run. A 3-pointer by Ella Nelson gave LC State back its momentum at 4:41 and Mataya Green and Sitara Byrd added to the nine-point run for a 35-18 cushion by 3:11.
Hymas nailed a triple, and Herring drove to the basket for a 40-19 margin with 1:19 to play in the half and the Warriors took a 40-21 lead into the break.
The two teams traded baskets to start the third quarter as five points from Green and a 3 by Sander had the advantage at 49-33 after three minutes. Back-to-back layups by Sander were followed by free throws by Wilson to give the Warriors a 57-35 lead with 10 minutes to play.
A jumper by Wilson sparked a six-point LC State run to start the fourth quarter fueled by baskets by Grace Beardin and Nelson. Sander hit a 3 to start a scoring stretch of 12 with tallies from Wilson, Kendall Wallace and Brager for a 77-39 advantage with 4:09 on the clock, and four points from Brager and a triple by Tessa Karlberg made it 84-42 at 1:54. Karlberg closed out the scoring in the final 90 seconds of the 86-45 win.
STAT RECAP
Sander led all scorers with 17 points on a 7-for-8 night from the field and went 3-of-4 from 3-point range. She added three steals, three boards and two assists to her night. Herring notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds along with a game-high six assists and two blocks.
“Darian’s double-double was excellent along with her six assists and Ellie Sander had her best offensive game of the season,” Orlandi added. “Mataya always gives us 100% effort when she steps on the court and Lindsey Wilson has been a great dominate inside presence for us.”
Wilson tallied 12 points with five rebounds and Brager scored 11 points. Green ended her night with eight points, five boards and three steals.
UP NEXT
The Warriors take on NCAA Division III No. 14 Whitman on Dec.13 in Walla Walla. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
