From the first possession to the final buzzer, Friday night at Whalen Gymnasium was Kayla Herrera’s night.
While most of the players on the floor were tight with the bright lights shining, Herrera fed off the energy and exploded for a career-high 27 points. She also put the talons on Colorado Mines’ leading scorer Emily Bailey as the Skyhawks (19-6, 14-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) beat the Orediggers 72-60.
Shelby Patterson scored 14 points, Alyssa Yocky had nine points and seven rebounds and Ande Lampert finished with six points and a team-high eight rebounds. “I don’t know what to say, I guess I’m just a die-hard,” Herrera said. “I just love this game and sometimes I might go after it too much and get ahead of myself, but I really felt comfortable in this one.”
The early-game jitters were apparent as both teams struggled to get much offense going as a unit in the first quarter. That wasn’t the case for Herrera. The redshirt freshman scored the team’s first 10 points of the game and, after a 3-pointer by Katelyn Romero capped off the scoring in the opening 10 minutes, the Skyhawks were ahead 13-11 and took flight from that moment.
Romero’s 3 sparked a 12-0 run in which the defense held Colorado Mines’ offense scoreless for more than 7 minutes and Herrera continued to dissect the opposing defense with ease. Her 17 points were half of the FLC output in the first 20 minutes as the Skyhawks carried a 34-23 advantage at halftime.
Colorado Mines (15-13, 11-8 RMAC) came out strong to start the second half and cut the lead down to four in the opening five minutes of the third quarter.
Though leading rebounders Yocky and Lampert were sidelined with four fouls, that’s as close as Colorado Mines would get. After playing their best quarter of the night, the Orediggers made up only two points on the scoreboard and still trailed by nine heading into the final quarter.
“That Colorado Mines team was playing like a desperate team,” Fort Lewis head coach Jason Flores said. “They’re so tough and they just kept fighting back and fighting back until time ran out. Lucky for me, our girls are pretty tough too, and I’m so proud of what they did.”
Again, Mines cut the lead back down to four with a nice start to the final quarter. And again, the Skyhawks wouldn’t budge any further.
Fort Lewis responded with an 11-3 run that put the finishing touches on another impressive performance as Herrera appropriately sealed the deal at the free throw line.
“I have great teammates,” Herrera said. “When I’m not hitting, Briana or Shelby or Yocky can carry me. Our bench was great in this one too, so it was time for us to carry them.”
Fort Lewis will be back in action against Adams State at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Lampert, the team’s only senior, will be honored for Senior Night.
