EUGENE, OR – The No. 10 Warrior women used a massive 17-point run in the third quarter to storm back for their 10th straight victory of the season. LC State outscored the Bushnell University Beacons 45-26 in the second half en route to a 74-58 win in Cascade Conference action.
Hannah Broyles tallied a career-high 23 points on five 3-pointers, and Maddie Holm notched a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds. The Warriors took advantage of offensive boards and outscored Bushnell 29-13 in second-chance points.
With the win, LC State is 10-1 on the season and 5-0 in CCC play.
“We started the game with the same shooting woes we finished with last night,” Head Coach Brian Orr said. “In fact, the 13 percent we shot the first quarter has to pretty close to an all-time low. We shot better every quarter and I thought our fourth quarter was some of our best of the season. Hannah got on a roll and it spread to the rest of the team. Bushnell went over the top of our press and when we pulled it off. Our defensive intensity really picked up and that shifted the momentum.
“We did a great job on the boards led by Maddie and Sara (Muehlhausen),” Orr added. “Our second-chance points and our points off of turnovers were big factors in getting us a win. This was another good road win and a good weekend to go into the break.”
Bushnell opened the contest with the first eight points, but Broyles took the game into her hands with the next eight to tie the contest 8-8 at 5:32. She put the first LC State points on the board with a triple at 7:06 before converting on a pair of offensive rebounds. Holm gave the Warriors their first lead of the game with a foul shot at 4:55, but the Beacons answered to regain the lead at 10-9 20 seconds later.
The Warrior defense picked up the pace as the quarter continued. Sara Muehlhausen tallied three blocks in the first six minutes of the game and Payton Hymas grabbed an offensive board and forced a foul to send her to the line for two shots. The Beacons struck for five straight points to end the first 10 minutes with a 15-11 advantage.
Bushnell continued its scoring run in the second quarter before Muehlhausen cut the run with a jumper at 7:08 to make it a 17-13 Beacon lead. Broyles netted a pair of free throws to keep LC within four, 19-15, with 6:14 to play in the half.
Muehlhausen converted an offensive board into a layup before a steal by Sitara Byrd turned into a 3 by Callie Stevens to put LC ahead 20-19 at 5:19. Bushnell snapped the Warriors’ seven-point run with a go-ahead 3 on the next possession and stretched the margin back to 24-21 by 4:33.
The back-and-forth continued through the last three minutes with both Byrd and Sander adding to the LC State total. Bushell scored the final basket of the frame to take a 32-29 lead into the break.
The Warrior women went on a massive 17-point run to end the third quarter to take control of the contest. Trailing 42-33, Holm struck for back-to-back baskets before Hymas put back an offensive board to cut the difference to 42-39 midway through the quarter. Hymas added a free throw to make it a two-point game.
Hymas grabbed a steal and found Sander in transition for the game-tying bucket, and Sander returned the favor on a Hymas layup 30 seconds later to put LC in front 44-42 at 3:24. Broyles and Byrd combined to make it a 17-point run for the Warrior women and give LC a 50-42 advantage at the end of the quarter. A steal by Broyles prevented Bushnell from scoring the final seconds.
The Beacons snapped the Warrior run with the first bucket of the fourth, but a jumper by Byrd kept the offense going for LC State. Broyles hit a 3 as the teams traded baskets on four straight possessions, but Bushnell persisted to pull back within five, 55-50.
Broyles pushed the lead back out to eight, 58-50, with a triple on an assist from Stevens with 6:53 to play, and Muehlhausen made it back-to-back Warriors baskets to a 10-point lead. Holm grabbed an offensive board, her seventh of the game, and put it back to make it 62-53 at the halfway mark of the quarter.
Another triple by Broyles at 2:50 pushed her to a career-high in scoring, and Sander tallied five straight to give LC a 70-56 advantage in the final two minutes. Holm and Mataya Green each scored in the final minute to seal with 74-58 victory.
Broyles led all scorers with her career-high 23 points. She went 7-for-12 from the field, 5-for-6 from 3 and 4-for-6 from the charity stripe. Sander added 12 points, while Holm led with 15 rebound to go with 11 points. Muehlhausen was key on defense with 12 rebounds and three blocks. Stevens led LC with five assists.
UP NEXT
The Warriors host No. 20 Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho Dec. 30 and 31 to close out the 2022 schedule.
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