ASHLAND, Ore. – The No. 10 Warrior women held on to their share of the top spot in the Cascade Conference with a hard-fought 77-67 victory over (RV) Southern Oregon. Maddie Holm posted a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds in a contest where LC State shot more than 50 percent from the field.
With the win, LC State is 23-2 overall and 18-1 in CCC play.
“This was definitely a hard-fought win,” Head Coach Brian Orr said. “SOU came out on fire and we struggled shooting in the first quarter. This was the first time in a couple months that we didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the ball, but give credit to SOU’s defense for its 10 steals. Take away the turnovers and the first frame and our offense was effective all game. Our second half defense was the difference. Limiting their second chance points was another key factor. So happy for our players. We had several who really stepped up when we needed them to, and they all really competed and found a way to get it done.”
Southern Oregon held LC State off the board until Maddie Holm drained a 3 at 8:01 to tie the contest 3-3. A pair of buckets by SOU’s Kami Walk put the Raiders in front 7-3, but free throws by Holm kept the Warriors within two at 6:45. SOU rallied to pull ahead 13-5 midway through the first quarter.
Jumpers by Holm cut the deficit to 15-9 and Callie Stevens added a layup before a triple by Sitara Byrd brought LC within five, 19-14, in the final minute of the frame. Lindsey Wilson fought her way to the basket to cap the seven-point run and make it a 19-16 difference after 10 minutes.
A steal by Mataya Green led to a basket by the sophomore to cut the margin to one in the first 30 seconds of the second quarter. Back-to-back layups by Wilson and Stevens, aided by assists and a steal by Hannah Broyles, put the Warriors ahead 22-21 at 8:04.
The back-and-forth continued as the teams traded buckets. Holm added a triple for LC and Byrd took a steal back for a layup to keep the Warriors within two, 29-27, at 5:57. Holm, Stevens and Wilson struck for six straight points to give the Warriors a momentary 33-32 advantage, and a layup by Payton Hymas knotted the score 35-35 with 2:51 to play in the half.
Broyles put LC State in front with a 3 on an assist from Ellie Sander in the final two minutes, but SOU responded with two layups for a 39-38 edge into the break.
A jumper and 3 by Sander kept the Warriors within one before a 3 by Stevens gave LC a 46-44 lead at 6:45. Stevens, Sander and Green fueled the run to push the scoring stretch to 15 points and grow the lead to 55-44 by 3:26.
SOU rattled off a run of eight straight to cut the LC State lead to 55-52 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sander converted on a free throw before nailing a 3 after a steal to help the Warriors regain momentum with a 59-52 advantage in the first minute of the frame. Stevens pushed the rally to six points with a layup.
Sara Muehlhausen tallied back-to-back baskets to give the Warriors a double-digit lead, 65-54, with 4:48 to play. The Raiders cut the difference to three, but 3s by Holm and Broyles kept LC State in front by a slim margin in the final three minutes. Broyles and Stevens added to the total in the final minute to close out the victory 77-67.
Stevens led the Warriors with 19 points in the contest on an 8-for-15 night from the field. Holm added 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Sander scored 11 points and grabbed seven boards.
Broyles led LC with six assists, Muehlhausen blocked three shots and Holm, Stevens, Broyles and Sander each had three steals.
The Warriors shot .508 from the field and .458 from 3-point range. LC State drained 11 3-pointers and had 14 steals.
UP NEXT
The Warriors wrap up the regular-season road schedule on Saturday at Oregon Tech. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
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