The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team turned in a dominant second-half performance to close out its Texas road trip Saturday afternoon in San Angelo, Texas.
Leading 24-22 at halftime, the No. 14 Skyhawks outscored Texas A&M-Kingsville 16-4 in the third quarter and cruised to a 62-42 victory in their final game before they begin play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
“We played flat in the first half, which we have to learn from, but we picked it up in the second half and were able to get up by 30,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said.
Every player for FLC saw action.
FLC’s defense turned in a great performance in the win and held the Javelinas (3-4) to 21 percent shooting.
Astrea Reed led the Skyhawks (5-0) with 15 points. Briana Clah added 12 and Kayla Herrera finished with 10.
FLC hit eight 3-pointers in the win.
Ope Ibrahim led Kingsville with 14 points, and Shaq Debose chipped in 12.
With the two wins in Texas – the Skyhawks beat Angelo State University 57-56 Friday – FLC has four key wins against South Central Region opponents, also having beaten the University of Texas-Permian Basin and Eastern New Mexico earlier this month. Those wins within the region are crucial at the end of the season when it comes to seeding for the regional tournament.
The Skyhawks now will turn their focus to RMAC play, which will begin Friday when the team will head to Pueblo to face the Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves.
The ThunderWolves were ranked fifth in the nation to start the season, but have gone 2-4 so far this season.
“We’re happy to get through the non-conference portion of our schedule undefeated, and now comes the conference season,” Flores said. “We’ll have a real tough game next Friday at CSU-Pueblo to start things off but we’re excited about getting over there and competing hard.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
