LEWISTON, Idaho – Bushnell found themselves in too big a hole to dig out of on Friday night, falling to No. 1 seed Lewis-Clark State College, 71-53, in the semifinal round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank.  
 
The Beacons (19-13) shot just under 33% from the field, and were outscored 20-5 in second-chance points as the Warriors (27-3) out-rebounded them 54-38 with 17 offensive boards. The Beacons turned the ball over 14 teams, leading to 15 LC points.
 
That was a tough one tonight," said head coach Chad Meadors. "We shot ourselves in the foot most of the night with turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds. Through all of it, we were down three points late in the third quarter and still had a chance."
 
Bushnell briefly held a lead to start the game as Aly Mirabile (pictured) scored the Beacons' first five points, but a 9-0 run sent the Warriors on their way to leading by 12 before taking a 37-26 margin into halftime.
 
After the intermission, the Beacons looked to be making another come-from-behind charge, out-scoring LC 15-7 over the first eight minutes to make it a three-point game at 44-41. The teams traded buckets as they headed to the fourth quarter, and a Libby Mathis layup once again made it a three-point game with 9:07 to play.
 
The Warriors showed some of the reason they are ranked in the NAIA's top-20 and won the CCC regular season championship, outscoring the Beacons 23-8 the rest of the way.
 
Lewis-Clark State was led by Callie Stevens, scoring a game-high 26 points despite an atypical 3-for-11 night from three-point range. Rachel Schroeder came off the bench to score 11 and Maddie Holm chipped in ten points and 13 rebounds.
 
Libby Mathis was the only Beacon in double-figures, scoring 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Mirabile finished with eight points, nine rebounds and five assists while Aspen Slifka scored nine points, hitting three triples.
 
Morgan McKinney scored six points, adding five rebounds, three assists, and three steals in what became the final career game for her and the other Bushnell seniors, Claire Salness, Alyssa Kuskie, and Ariana Fuselier.
 
"This is a great time of reflection on our four seniors and all they have given to our program," said Meadors. "What a great group to send off. They came in when I came in and showed me the way. I was blessed to have them for four years, blessed to have won two conference titles with them. It is a really special group that helped set the tone going forward and put Bushnell women's basketball on the map."