HELENA, MT – No. 10 LC State Women’s Basketball bounced back well on Saturday with a 71-61 victory over No. 15 Rocky Mountain (Mont.). Every Warrior on the court contributed in the win with a packed stat sheet. Payton Hymas led the game with 19 points and Sitara Byrd grabbed eight rebounds.
“Proud of the energy we brought to the game today,” coach Caelyn Orlandi said. “I thought our senior leadership was huge for us today and was a key component in our victory. A huge team win for us.”
The win improves the LC State record to 6-2 to close out non-conference play. The Warriors open Cascade Conference action next weekend on the road.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Darian Herring pulled down a rebound and fed it to Tatum Brager for a 3-pointer to start the contest. Hymas drove to the basket for a layup before a triple by Grace Beardin had LC State in front 8-5 after two minutes. Hymas added a 3 of her own, but Rocky kept pace to take a 13-11 lead at 4:49. Another 3-pointer by Hymas kept the back-and-forth going and baskets by Herring and Camden Barger gave the Warriors a 20-16 edge after 10 minutes.
Kendall Wallace opened the second frame with a 3-pointer and two foul shots by Barger capped the scoring run at seven points for a 25-16 advantage at 8:32. The Battlin Bears put together their own run of five before Herring brought the momentum back to the Warriors with a layup at 5:13. Ellee Brockman and Byrd helped maintain the LC State lead, and nine straight points by Brager, Lindsey Wilson and Byrd had the margin to 43-30 at the end of the half.
Rocky scored the first three points of the third quarter before Hymas and Brager combined for five. Wilson and Hymas matched RMC baskets and Barger made it a 58-44 lead at 3:09. Wallace hit a 3 to end the LC State scoring in the frame and the Warriors led 63-51 ahead of the final quarter of play.
Hymas put the Warriors on the board in the fourth quarter and Byrd stretched the lead to 70-54 with a 3-pointer at 6:26. Rocky got hot with a seven-point rally to bring the score within 10, but both teams went quiet in the final minutes of the contest. The only point in the final four minutes was a free throw by Hymas to make it 71-61.
STAT RECAP
Hymas led the contest with 19 points on a 7-for-10 performance from the field. She was 2-for-3 from 3-point range and dished out four assists with three steals. Byrd led the Warriors with eight rebounds to go with 10 points.
“I thought Payton Hymas had a phenomenal game on both sides of the floor and Camden Barger did a great job for us in both games this weekend,” Orlandi said.
Brager tallied 11 points with three 3-pointers and Herring had seven boards and three assists. Beardin contributed six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
The Warriors shot 44.4% from the field and held RMC to 35% and just 30% from 3-point range. LC State had 22 points off the bench led by Wilson’s eight (4-for-6).
“Grace Beardin’s defensive efforts today were tremendous, and she was so incredibly tough,” Orlandi added. “Darian and Lindsey battled hard all game long against a very talented forward-oriented Rocky team and Tatum Brager had a great game from the 3-point line today.”
UP NEXT
The Warriors open Cascade Conference play next weekend with a trip to (RV) Eastern Oregon and (RV) College of Idaho.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
