LEWISTON, ID – The No. 7 LC State Women’s Basketball team wasted no time setting the tone for the season with a 98-58 victory over Dickinson State (N.D.) on Friday. Darian Herring tallied the second triple-double in school history and Sitara Byrd scored a career high in the first game of the 2025-26 season.
Herring now has the only two triple-doubles in school history, male or female, with tonight’s 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Byrd scored 27 points on a 10-for-12 night from the field including 5-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.
The Warriors shot at least 50% in each of the four quarters for a 53.7% mark for the night and dished out 20 assists with five scoring in double digits.
“Great first offensive showing for our team,” head coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “I really thought we had good shot selection and shared the ball very well. We have many offensive threats, and I thought having five in double digit scoring was great. I am very happy with a 20-assist night for our team. To turn our defense into offense was spectacular tonight and to have one third of our points come off of forced turnovers was a great job by our team.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Herring scored the first basket of the season and Byrd drained the first 3-pointer to five the Warriors a quick lead. Payton Hymas found the basket at 6:05 to put LC State in front 9-4 and tallies by Herring, Byrd and Tatum Brager had the margin at 17-10 two minutes later. Lindsey Wilson capped an eight-point Warrior run at 2:41 for a 23-10 advantage before a final basket by the senior had the score at 25-16 after 10 minutes.
Wilson hit the first two baskets of the second frame and eight straight LC State points by Byrd made the advantage 37-21. A triple by Kendall Wallace gave the Warriors their largest lead of the half at 18 points before Ellee Brockman closed out the half with a free throw to send LC State to the locker room with a 50-33 lead.
Back-to-back baskets by Byrd and Brager started the second half and a triple by Byrd gave the Warriors a 57-35 cushion at 7:34. Wallace and Grace Beardin each drained 3-pointers in the frame and a jumper by Brager had LC State in front 71-48 with 10 minutes to play.
Brager and Beardin netted back-to-back 3-pointers to kick off the final frame, and a triple by Byrd sparked a nine-point run to grow the advantage to 88-50 with 4:28 to play. Hymas tallied nine straight LC State points before Ella Nelson ended the scoring with a free throw.
STAT RECAP
Herring excelled in every stat category. The junior finished the night with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, five blocks and five steals in her historic night.
“Darian is a special player and to have the second triple-double of her career was so incredible,” Orlandi said. “She is an all-around player that continues to get better every year. What is really special about this team is that every player on the bench was yelling at her to go get another rebound. We cheer for each other’s successes and I look forward to watching this team grow together this season.”
Byrd was nearly unstoppable on the floor with her career-high 27 points. The senior went 10-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-6 from 3-point range to go with four steals. Hymas tied her career high with 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting and an 8-for-8 night at the free throw line. Wilson and Wallace each added 10 points with efficient performances. Wilson was 5-for-7 with eight rebounds and Wallace went 4-for-9 with a pair of 3s.
“A special night for Sitara Byrd,” Orlandi added. “She shot the ball extremely well and our team did a great job of finding her. Payton did a great job of attacking the basket tonight and Darian did a great job of balancing scoring and passing the ball. Lindsey Wilson came in and had the immediate impact that I was expecting her to and did an excellent job rebounding as well. Kendall Wallace came in and was a spark defensively for us and is a much-improved player from last season.”
LC State committed just nine turnovers and forced 25. The Warriors capitalized with 30 points off those turnovers and had 24 points off the bench. Every player in the game scored.
UP NEXT
LC State takes on Dickinson State for the second night in a row on Saturday. Tipoff in the P1FCU Activity Center is set for 3:30 p.m.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
