Shooting woes doom LCSC women in Cascade title game

La GRANDE, Ore. — While it sure would have been nice for the 10th-ranked Lewis-Clark State women’s basketball team to win the Cascade Conference tournament, the saving grace is the Warriors already had their bid to the NAIA tournament locked up before Tuesday’s title game.

LCSC had one of its worst shooting efforts of the season as No. 12 Eastern Oregon took advantage and rolled to a 75-59 victory in the conference tourney championship game at Quinn Coliseum.

“We all know that basketball is a game of makes,” coach Brian Orr said. “Give Eastern credit, they are a very talented basketball team who made a bunch more than we did. They pass the ball extremely well and they were making their 3s. That forced us to extend our defense and then they just dominated the offensive boards.”

Thanks to a coin flip at the conclusion of the regular season, the Warriors (28-3) didn’t need a winning result to get into the national event. But heading into that tourney with momentum surely would have been helpful. In three meetings this season between LCSC and the Mountaineers (29-2), the home team won on every occasion.

Now the Warriors will look to use this loss as motivation going into the first two rounds of the NAIA event, which will take place March 7-8. LCSC will be one of 16 host sites, and the remainder of the field will be announced at 4 p.m. Pacific on Thursday.

Sailor Liefke paced Eastern Oregon with 20 points. Bayley Brennan filled the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Junior forward Maddie Holm continued her recent roll with 13 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks for the Warriors, who were just 23-of-75 (30.7%) from the field overall. Senior guard Hannah Broyles, a former Moscow standout, added 12 points.

“I know our girls are all disappointed in how we played,” Orr said. “But we also know that we have a really good team and that is why we are hosting the first and second rounds next week. I am confident that we will bounce back with a great chance to get to Iowa (and the final 16 of the national tournament).”

The two teams were within one possession for the better part of the first quarter, but the Mountaineers started to assert themselves at the end of the period, taking a seven-point lead late before settling for a 20-16 advantage going to the second.

Eastern Oregon began to pull away a little in the second, taking a 33-22 lead with 4:02 to go on Liefke’s jumper. A Broyles jumper with 1:34 remaining got the Warriors within 37-28.

The Mountaineers used a 7-0 run to start the third quarter to increase their lead to 17, and LCSC never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (28-3)

Muehlhausen 2-5 0-0 4, Holm 4-11 4-4 13, Stevens 1-8 0-0 2, Broyles 4-15 2-3 12, Sander 2-9 0-0 4, Wilson 2-6 1-4 5, Nelson 2-2 1-1 6, Green 3-5 0-0 6, Hymas 2-7 0-0 4, Clabby 1-3 0-0 3, Byrd 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 23-75 8-12 59.

EASTERN OREGON (29-2)

Brennan 7-16 0-0 18, Holecek 2-7 2-2 7, Liefke 7-15 2-2 20, Slater 3-8 0-0 8, Burgess 2-8 2-2 6, Siegner 1-2 0-0 2, Waiwaiole 0-1 0-0 0, Juul 0-1 0-0 0, Harris Shaw 2-5 0-0 4, Fehringer 0-1 1-2 1, Robinett 1-1 1-2 3, Wright 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 28-72 8-10 75.

Lewis-Clark State 16 12 15 16—59

Eastern Oregon 20 17 22 16—75

3-point goals — Lewis-Clark State 5-23 (Broyles 2-9, Nelson 1-1, Clabby 1-1, Holm 1-2, Muehlhausen 0-1, Green 0-1, Hymas 0-1, Byrd 0-1, Sander 0-2, Stevens 0-4), Eastern Oregon 11-32 (Brennan 4-11, Liefke 4-11, Slater 2-2, Holecek 1-4, Siegner 0-1, Fehringer 0-1, Harris Shaw 0-2). Rebounds — Lewis-Clark State 45 (Holm 12), Eastern Oregon 52 (Slater 15). Assists — Lewis-Clark State 12 (Clabby 3), Eastern Oregon 23 (Holecek 5). Total fouls — Lewis-Clark State 11, Eastern Oregon 10. A — N/A.