Sydney Schwabe (Photo by Noah Clooten)
DEVILS LAKE — The Royals survived their first playoff test on Sunday.
Lake Region State College women’s basketball (15-16) advanced past Miles Community College (4-27) with an 86-54 win at the Devils Lake Sports Center. It ended a five-game losing streak for the Royals, who faded after playing well for most of the season.
“We needed it,” LRSC head coach Colden Hutton said. “I thought the big thing for us was just playing with energy and effort throughout the whole game. And I thought we did that tonight, winning every quarter.”
A three-point barrage from Sydney Schwabe in the second quarter and Lara Graham in the third quarter fueled LRSC’s offense. With 49 combined points between the two of them — 27 and 22 — they nearly outscored the entirety of the Pioneers’ lineup.
“This was a great win for us,” Schwabe said. “We know that tomorrow’s not promised in the playoffs. So we had to come out with energy. And I think we came out with the most energy we have in the three games we’ve played them.”
The Royals won the turnover battle by a whopping 25-6.
Tyla Scorah had an early three to put the Pioneers up 3-2. But the Royals cruised to a 7-0 run from there, getting nice moves to the rim from Arden Faulkner and Jenna Tierney.
The teams traded baskets for much of the rest of the first quarter. MCC got within two, 13-11, with LRSC getting a little sloppy on the inside. Turnovers constantly hampered the Pioneers, though, and the Royals had a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Faulkner had nine first-quarter points.
Schwabe hit four triples in the second quarter, helping LRSC extend the lead to as many as 20. Faulkner also hit a three, and Jenna Tierney had a successful and-one.
“I was locked in because we were moving the ball as a team,” Schwabe said. “And they were getting the open, and I was just hitting the shots.”
Schwabe’s monster 16-point second quarter gave her 19 at halftime. She was a key piece on last year’s nearby Thompson team, and has been consistently described by Hutton as one of the best shooters in the conference when she’s going right. She stands at only 5-foot-5, but approached the arc with unflinching confidence on Sunday.
“It’s awesome,” Hutton said. “It’s great to see her shoot it well. She’s kind of been in a slump, but now being able to shoot it well…it’s cool to watch. And the best part about it is our team loves it, too.”
Faulkner, who scored 14 points in the first half, went down with a knee injury after tumbling behind the basket with 41.5 seconds left. She appeared to be in significant pain and had to be helped off the court by two teammates. That brought LRSC down to just six active players, with only nine to begin with and three down with injuries.
“I don’t know exactly what’s wrong; we’ve gotta kind of go in and figure it out,” Hutton said. “But I’m proud of her. If it does happen to be her last game, I’m super proud of her and everything she’s done. But hopefully it’s not.”
Graham started in place of Faulkner in the second half. She immediately made an impact, scoring the Royals’ first seven points of the half. She scored 10 of their first 12 points and 13 of their first 17.
“We need people to step up, right?” Hutton said. “[Faulkner]’s one of our leaders and scores a lot for us, and then Lara steps in and we don’t miss a step with it… She’s always kind of there, but now just stepping into that starting role a little bit.”
Graham did her best impression of Schwabe’s second quarter, making four triples for 16 points — exactly as Schwabe did. Her last three made it 69-42 right before the end of the third quarter.
“We knew we had to win for Arden because she puts in the time,” Schwabe said. “But Lara definitely stepped up and hit some big shots.”
The first three LRSC points of the fourth quarter were all free throws. They only went 17-of-32 from the line overall, but they made seven in the fourth quarter.
Schwabe got going again with a pair of threes, giving her six on the afternoon. Her last one didn’t exactly have the right trajectory and took a lucky bounce, but that’s just the way things were going for Schwabe.
“We do a lot of shooting in practice and on our own, so I think that helps,” Schwabe said.
LRSC has a tougher test on its hands up next with No. 1-seeded North Dakota State College of Science this Wednesday. The Royals lost to the Wildcats 59-56 at home on Jan. 19, then 69-43 on the road on Feb. 17.
“We have nothing to lose,” Hutton said. “We’re the underdogs at their place. They beat us by 20 or 30 there last time… I expect us to come out with a lot of energy and effort and hopefully surprise some people come Wednesday.”
