(Lewiston, ID) Ellie Sander earned her spot in the 1,000-point club and Darian Herring had one of the best games of her young career to help No. 22 Lewis-Clark State Women’s Basketball open Cascade Conference play with a 71-48 victory over Walla Walla University (Wash.). The win pushes the season-opening winning streak to six games.
Sander joined the prestigious scoring group in the second quarter when a basket put her at 1,001 points. After scoring 15 in the contest she now has 1,004 in her career. Darian Herring also put together a special game with a career-best seven blocks to tie for second all-time in a single game. She also tied her career-best in scoring with 18 points.
“Big congratulations to senior Ellie Sander for joining the 1,000-point club,” Head Coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “It is a huge milestone, and I am very proud of her. Ellie has worked every year to be better than she was the year before and each of those 1,000 points are hard earned. Very happy Ellie chose to be a Warrior, and I look forward to all she will accomplish in the rest of her senior season.
“Darian was excellent tonight and was a huge defensive stopper for us,” Orlandi added. “Her ability to block shots is remarkable and she protects the basket for us so very well. She stuffed the stat sheet tonight and is so impactful for us on both ends of the floor.”
The Warriors are now 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in CCC action.
“A great team win for us going into the Thanksgiving break and a great start to the 2024-25 conference season,” Orlandi added.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sander scored the first bucket of the game to bring herself closer to 1,000, but a 13-2 run by Walla Walla had the Warriors trailing 13-4 by 5:31. Sander and Herring combined for 13 straight points to put LC State back in front 17-13 at 1:56 before back-to-back baskets by Herring had the Warriors up 21-15 after 10 minutes. The duo scored all 21 points for LC State in the first quarter.
Sander made it 23 points by the pair with a layup, the 1,000th and 1,001st points of her career, to start the second frame before Lindsey Wilson joined in the on scoring for a 25-15 advantage at 8:45. Another basket by the junior sparked a run of 12 points with tallies form Sitara Byrd, Herring and Payton Hymas for a 39-25 lead by 2:59 before a layup by Hymas closed out the half with the Warriors in front 41-25. The Wolves only managed three field goals in the frame.
A triple by Sander opened the scoring in the second half for the largest lead of the game at 19 points. The teams traded baskets with Byrd, Camden Barger and Tatum Brager all scoring to send LC State into the final frame with a 54-38 lead.
Byrd and Wilson kept the difference at 18 points through the first three minutes of the fourth quarter and Wilson and Ella Nelson had the lead at 64-47 with 4:13 to play. Herring, Wilson and Tessa Karlberg combined for the final seven points of the contest, with Karlberg closing things out with a 3-pointer.
STAT RECAP
Herring led all scorers with 18 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field. Her career-best seven blocks filled up the box score along with five rebounds and five assists. Sander added 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting with six board, a career-high three blocks and two steals.
Wilson was perfect from the floor with 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting and Byrd led the team with seven rebounds and four steals with three assists and eight points.
“Sitara did a great job of rebounding and playing passing lanes, and capitalized on those steals with baskets,” Orlandi said. “Sitara works so hard every time she steps on the floor and her constant motion makes her difficult to guard. What I loved tonight was our ability to score in the paint. Lindsey Wilson was so big for us and came in and posted the block so well. Fourteen of our 44 paint points came from Lindsey and she did a fantastic job inside.”
The Warriors shot .493 from the floor and held WWU to .333. The LC State defense forced 25 turnovers that turned into 29 points.
Walla Walla’s Chariah Daniels notched a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Jaylo Bello scored 13 points and Jordan Green-Wallace grabbed eight board.
UP NEXT
The Warriors hit the road for more Cascade Conference action Dec. 6-7 at Northwest (Wash.) and Evergreen State (Wash.).