A disadvantage in 3-point shooting and turnovers made all the disadvantage between Fort Lewis College and Regis.
The FLC Skyhawks women’s basketball team fell 63-52 on the road at Regis University in Denver on Friday night. Both teams started slow shooting the ball, but six 3s made by the Rangers and 14 FLC turnovers in the second half helped push Regis toward the double-digit victory.
“It was a frustrating game for us,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “We had a few little spurts where we got out of sorts and weren’t ourselves scrambling on defense. We were a step slow.”
Trailing 27-23 at halftime after a horrid start, the Skyhawks (8-6, 5-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) gave themselves a chance to set a tone in the second half, especially after Kaile Magazzeni’s layup at the halftime buzzer lifted the Skyhawks’ spirits.
But 3s started falling early in the second half for the Rangers, who finished 8-of-25 from long range after a 2-for-13 start. FLC finished the game 2-of-13 from 3 on its side of the floor.
“Every time we got close, they hit a big 3, and momentum would swing in their favor,” Flores said of the Rangers. “They hit big shots when we got scrambling.”
Bay’Lee Purdy finished with a game-high 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3 for Regis (9-5, 5-5 RMAC). Eric Von Stein added 13 points and five rebounds while making 3-of-8 from 3.
Kate Bayes scored a team-high 14 points for FLC. She also finished with a team-high nine rebounds. She had nine points and eight rebounds in the first half.
“Our shots weren’t falling. Overall, it was a frustrating night for us,” Flores said.
Magazzeni finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, and guard Kylie Santos scored 12 points while making both of FLC’s shots from 3.
The Skyhawks once again struggled shooting the ball in the game’s opening 10 minutes. But they went on a scoring run to cut a 16-3 deficit through the game’s opening 8 minutes into a 19-15 hole with less than 8 minutes to play in the first half.
FLC shot 25 percent from the field in the first half while going 0-for-7 from 3. FLC didn’t score for the first 3 minutes, 38 seconds of game time.
FLC finished the game with 23 turnovers and took 11 fewer shots than the Rangers, even though rebounds were even at 38. However, Regis scored 21 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds to 11 for FLC on 11 offensive boards. The Skyhawks’ bench also was outscored 21-11.
“We turned it over way too many times. We can’t do that,” Flores said. “I don’t mind if we have a few turnovers in transition, but it wasn’t an up-and-down, transition game. We were turning it over at half court. We have to get a decent look at the basket. Even if we shoot a terrible percentage, if you can get more shots it can be a turning point in the game.”
It was a tough loss for the Skyhawks, who find themselves in a logjam in the middle of the RMAC standings. FLC will stay in Denver to play Metro State (11-4, 8-3 RMAC) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Roadrunners have won three in a row, including a 62-47 home win Friday against Adams State.
“It’s gonna be a really tough game. They’ve played well lately and are a good program,” Flores said of Metro State. “We have to take care of the ball better and rebound really well.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
