LEWISTON, Idaho – A statement win for (RV) University of Providence women's basketball over (7) Lewis-Clark State College proves the Lady Argos deserved to be ranked and considered as one of the front runners in the Frontier Conference. The 73-56 victory is the fourth straight for UP, including three wins over ranked opponents, and is the Lady Argo's first win in Lewiston since the 2014-15 season. 
 
"I couldn't feel any better than I do about our team. We've really come together as a group and taken all the little things that we've talked about and put them into play," Head Coach Bill Himmelberg said. "I'm really proud of the way our girls have defended and rebounded. That's really the key. To come here and win this game on the road is a big deal."
 
Junior post Tristan Murphy got the scoring started after LC State missed on its first possession. She went on to score 5 points in the first five minutes and finished the first quarter with 7 points. Her offensive prowess combined with a stellar defensive effort in the first 10 minutes to put UP in control.
 
The Lady Argo's defense picked up where it left off from its previous game, a suffocation 53-39 win over (10) Montana Western, and held the Warriors to 18 percent shooting from the field.
 
The 20-8 lead the Lady Argos built by the end of the first period set the tone for a night were UP simply shot better and executed its game plan better than the defending conference champion Warriors. 
 
"They usually come out and jump all over you and get up and then you end up having to try and fight back the whole game," Himmelberg said of LC State. "The big thing about tonight is that we did that to them. We came out and jumped all over them and they had to fight back the whole game."
 
Freshman post Parker Esary was UP's most consistent scorer in the first half, putting in 6 points in each quarter. Those points were particularly important in helping the Lady Argos hang on to the lead while the Warriors found their shooting touch.
 
LC State shot 50 percent in the second quarter, and also managed to make the Lady Argo's best player, senior guard Stephanie McDonagh a non-factor by getting her into foul trouble.
 
McDonagh only scored 2 points in the first half, but despite her absence and Warrior's second quarter surge, the Lady Argos still led 34-26 at halftime.
 
UP continued to press its advantage in the second half, outscoring the Warriors in each of the final two quarters. McDonagh had more of an impact, scoring 9 points, including 2 big threes early in the third quarter, but it was freshman point guard Emilee Maldonado and Murphy that  were  the stars of the second half.
 
Maldonado scored 11 points in the second half, including 7 in the fourth quarter and had 5 of her 7 assists. Her offensive output was particularly important in creating a backcourt balance with McDonagh in foul trouble and Esary and Murphy ruling the paint.
 
"Emilee makes so many baskets in practice all the time. We can't guard her in practice half the time," Himmelberg said. "I just kept waiting for it to translate to a game. Great players step up in big games, and that's what happened here. Emilee is a great player."
 
In the final few minutes, Murphy couldn't miss, putting any kind of comeback out of the question. She scored all of UP's final 8 points on 4-4 shooting.
 
The junior went toe-to-toe with Frontier Conference Preseason Player of the Year Brittany Tackett throughout the game and put up almost identical stats. Both players led their team with 19 points (a career high for Murphy) and shot over 50 percent from the field Murphy had 7 rebounds to Tackett's 6, while Tackett had 2 blocks and Murphy had 2 steals.
 
After failing to score more than 7 points in each of the team's previous four games, and in four of the teams five conference games in 2017-18, Maldonado's 18 points set a new career high for the freshman.
 
Esary came 1 rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds, while McDonagh did just enough to keep her streak of double-digit scoring games alive. She now had 10 or more points in 15 straight games and in 16 of the 17 games the team has played.
 
The Lady Argos are now 3-2 against ranked opponents, 6-0 in true road games, and are 14-3 (5-1) on the year. That 5-1 conference record has them tied with (24) Carroll College for first place in the Frontier Conference. Next for UP will be a home game against (21) Montana State University-Northern, a team the Lady Argos beat 56-48 in Havre, Montana to start the team's 4-game winning streak.