PORTLAND, Ore. – The 3-ball played a big role for No. 7 LC State on Sunday against the Multnomah Lions. Freshman Tatum Brager had the best game of her career with 21 points on seven 3-pointers. The Warrior women totaled 13 3s on the day against the team that led the Cascade Conference in 3-point field goal percentage defense heading into the weekend.
“Tatum Brager came in and got our offense going immediately,” Head Coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “She was knock-down from the 3-point line and she has shown great confidence all week with shooting the ball. Her teammates were excited for her and to have another career game this weekend was so big for us as a program.”
LC State dealt 31 assists on 34 field goals and snagged 14 steals in the contest.
“The stat I am most proud of this afternoon is that 31 assists on 34 made field goals,” Orlandi said. “Every player this afternoon had at least one assist and I am so very excited about how we shared the basketball. We played so well together.”
The win moves the Warrior women to 15-2 overall and 11-1 in CCC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Callie Stevens scored the first five points of the contest for LC State before Sitara Byrd joined the scoring action to give the Warriors a 7-2 lead at 8:07. The Lions answered with six straight to pull ahead 8-7 two minutes later, but LC battled at the boards to turn offensive rebounds into a go-ahead basket by Darian Herring.
A triple by Brager and free throw by Mataya Green ran the scoring stretch to six points for a 15-10 advantage with 2:14 left in the first quarter, and another 3 by Brager maintained momentum for the Warriors. The freshman drained her third triple in a two-minute span before Ella Nelson added a basket to close out the quarter with the Warriors in front 23-15.
Brager picked up where she left off with two 3-pointers in the first 90 seconds of the second frame. Paired with a layup by Stevens, the LC State advantage grew to 31-17 by 8:28. Byrd and Lindsey Wilson tallied back-to-back baskets before Brager netted her sixth 3. Three points from Byrd and two by Wilson gave the Warriors a 20-point cushion, 43-23, midway through the quarter.
Wilson, Byrd, Camden Brager and Ellie Sander combined for an 11-2 run and Herring and Grace Beardin went back-to-back for a 56-27 lead in the final two minutes. LC State held a 56-28 advantage at the break.
Every Warrior scored in the first half, led by Brager’s 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range.
A steal by Wilson led to a layup by Green to continue LC State’s momentum in the second half. Stevens drained a pair of 3s and Byrd added two of her own to make it 72-33 at the 5:10 mark. The barrage of 3s continued with contributions from Sander and Brager.
Free throws by Barger, Nelson and Beardin had the Warrior lead at 86-43 after the third quarter.
Sander scored the first basket of the fourth frame for LC State after a steal by Herring. Herring and Nelson added to the final point total in the last minutes of the contest.
Brager’s 21 points led LC State and her seven 3-pointers, matching Stevens’ total from Saturday, is tied for third-most in a single game. Byrd finished with 17 points, Stevens scored 14 and Herring had 10. Green grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds to lead the defense, while Byrd, Green and Herring each had three steals. Herring and Stevens each dished out five assists.
“Every player today had impactful minutes and our ability to work hard for 40 minutes is so encouraging,” Orlandi added. “This team works hard and they do so for each other day in and day out. I was excited to see Sitara score the ball and she is relentless on the glass. She has been such a great and positive voice for us.”
The Warriors shot 51.5% as a team and 44.8% from 3-point range. At the start of the weekend Multnomah led the CCC with a 3-point percentage defense of 26.7%. LC outrebounded the Lions 42-36.
UP NEXT
The Warriors continue the road swing next weekend in Washington. LC State will take on Evergreen State on Friday and Northwest on Saturday.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
