The Lake Region State College Royals are rolling right now.
LRSC’s women’s basketball team returned to Devils Lake Sports Center on Wednesday and continued what it does best: defend. Even with a relatively slower start, and an off night from the team’s best shooter, the Royals took a 10-8 lead in the first quarter and never relinquished their advantage.
The Royals beat the Mystics 55-43, extending an eight-game winning streak that has turned their season around. From 3-6 to 11-6, LRSC has clawed its way up the standings of the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference. It is now 4-4 in conference play with this latest win, putting the team in a narrow fourth place.
“These last eight games — even before that, we’ve been defending really well,” head coach Ryan Clark said. “So our defensive effort and energy on that side of the ball, and staying locked into the scouting reports being outstanding. It would be nice if we could make a few more shots, but that’s part of basketball. They’ll eventually start going down for us, and we’ll be totally fine on that end.”
Kelsey Crossan, who leads the Royals in points per game, didn’t make any baskets until the second quarter and only made four through the course of the game. As a team, LRSC made 18 of its 57 field goal attempts — that’s 31.6%, below its season average of 36.6.
Crossan did lead the team in rebounds, though, despite the Royals getting outrebounded as a whole.
“Things didn’t necessarily go her way, but Kelsey is great,” Clark said. “Kelsey rebounds, she defends, she’s physical. She gives us a presence out there. Kelsey is gonna have a lot more good games than she does bad games.”
The Royals got out to a quick 8-2 lead in the first quarter after Tiyahna Trottier and Natalie DeCoteau each made a three. But they gradually let it slip away and found the game tied, 8-8. A pair of free throws at the end of the quarter were the only difference in giving LRSC a lead at the break.
LRSC got into more of a rhythm in the second quarter. Despite still struggling to make shots as consistently as they’d like, the Royals received contributions from players up and down the lineup. Anisah Wolf and Brooke Kleining each collected two baskets, while Trottier and Crossan landed a basket apiece. The Royals outscored the Mystics 13-5 in the quarter and took a 23-13 lead into halftime.
“I think we’ve had a different leading scorer basically every other game,” Clark said. “It’s a lot of players that can score the ball for us.”
A three from Arden Faulkner in the third quarter gave LRSC its largest lead of the game at 29-15. But with the Royals on the cusp of running away with it, Bismarck State chose a perfect time to go on a 9-0 run. Even in the midst of that streak, the Mystics missed several threes that could have made things even closer.
“That was a lot of our frustration. The whole game frustrated with what happened on the offensive end,” Clark said. “We went away defensively from being our best self on that end. Once we’ve dug back in and we’re our best self, then we’re totally fine. That’s where we are, our bread-and-butter zone. We’re a defensive team. We guard really well.”
The Royals finished the third quarter with a 5-0 run on their side, including three by Trottier, who led LRSC in points.
Trottier continued her success into the fourth quarter. She made her third three-pointer of the game, and was a perfect 3-of-3 in free throws. With 16 points, she was the only Royal to reach double digits on Wednesday. It was nearly double her season average of 8.8 points per game.
“Tiyahna can flat-out score the ball. It just hasn’t necessarily gone her way so far this season,” Clark said. “She’s had a few games that have been really good, but hopefully that can build confidence for her and she can keep building off it.”
Bismarck State had its highest-scoring quarter with 19 in the final 10 minutes, but LRSC matched that with 19 of its own. The Royals ended up with a lead that wasn’t a blowout, but was more than comfortable enough to let them cruise into the finish line.
Even with momentum on their side, the toughest challenges still lay ahead for the lady Royals. Their next opponent is Williston State College, which leads the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference with a perfect 8-0 record in conference play. The Tetons beat the Royals back on Nov. 29 in commanding 80-57 fashion.
“I thought last time I didn’t do a good job putting the girls in the best spot with what we were doing defensively,” Clark said. “So we’re gonna make some adjustments to what we did last time… But they’re a really good team, so it’s gonna be a battle.”
LRSC and Williston State will face off at Devils Lake Sports Center on Sunday at 1 p.m.
