PORTLAND | The Warner Pacific University Women's Basketball team (10-11, 8-8) just could not get their offense going this afternoon, suffering a setback to the #22 Lewis-Clark State College Warriors (18-3, 12-3) by dropping their contest 52-87 on Bart Valentine Court.
 
Senior guard Lynden Harry knocked down the first shot attempt from behind the three-point line to take a 3-0 lead to open the game, but Warriors' guard Callie Stevens and center Sara Muehlhausen had different thoughts for how today's contest would play out. The LC State duo scored the first eight points for their team to take an 8-7 lead near the midway point of the first quarter, and never looked back, as the Warriors would lead for the remainder of the contest from this point forward.
 
After a made shot attempt from Knights' junior guard Peyton Slaga, Lewis-Clark State would go on a 10-0 run to extend their lead well past double-digits into the second quarter, leaving Warner Pacific in need of a miracle to pull off the come-from-behind victory with a 19-point halftime deficit.
 
The second half left very little to remember for Warner Pacific's failure to convert on the offensive end, with LC State outscoring the Knights in every quarter of play this afternoon, including a 24-point effort from the Warriors in the third quarter alone.
 
Where the Knights lacked on the offensive end, Lewis-Clark State picked up the slack on their own end, as the Warriors shot an even 50% from the field for the entire contest, along with 34.5% of their three-point attempts to complete their fourth highest scoring game of the season.
 
The Knights pushed the ball well against a stout Warriors defense, but were left empty handed a large majority of the afternoon, scoring on only 26.1% of their shots for the full 40 minutes of action. A usually consistent three-point shooting team in Warner Pacific was nowhere to be seen today, as the Knights shot a lackluster 17.6% from beyond the three-point arc.
 
Most of Warner Pacific's victories this season can be found from their success on the defensive end, coercing teams into making adjustments to their offensive playbook on the fly, while forcing a huge amount of turnovers from their full-court press. Lewis-Clark State had very little trouble navigating WPU's lockdown defense, as the Knights forced only 13 turnovers from the Warriors in this contest.
 
Knights' senior forward Hannah Myers was one of the few Warner Pacific players this afternoon to continue her offensive consistency, scoring 16 points and recording 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Myers also had three steals and a pair of assists through her 31 minutes played.
 
Five different Warriors' scored in double-figures this afternoon, most notably Stevens who finished with a game-high 18 points for LC State, dealing out five assists along the way. Muehlhausen scored 14 points in the winning effort, pulling down eight rebounds and nabbing a pair of steals in the process.
 
The Knights will look to bounce back next Friday, February 4^th, as they travel to The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. to defend their December 18^th win against the Geoducks in C.C. Perry Gym. Warner Pacific and Evergreen State will tipoff at 5:30pm PDT at the Costantino Recreation Center.