Some nights, it simply comes down to who has the ball last.
Fortunately for the Skyhawks, Ashley Kuchar had the ball in her hands with the game up for grabs.
Kuchar’s layup with 1.3 seconds left lifted the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team to an 85-83 victory over Chadron State on Friday at Whalen Gymnasium.
Dallas Shaw’s 3-pointer tied the game for the Eagles (1-10, 1-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) at 83 with 21 seconds left. FLC head coach Jason Flores called timeout to set up the play. Mary Brinton feigned a screen at the top of the key, and Kuchar bolted down the left side of the lane and hit a layup in traffic.
“We had been running a lot of high ball screens, and we wanted to come with just false motion of it ... and I was just hoping that we could get their guard to kind of get turned,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said.
“I knew that, hopefully, right when Mary went, I could get that girl turned around, and I was just thinking get to the basket and hopefully get fouled, and I made it, too,” Kuchar said with a smile.
Chadron State’s heave at the horn was well off as FLC picked up the victory.
Brinton was huge for FLC (7-3, 4-2 RMAC) off the bench, scoring a career-high 27 points and a career-best 13 rebounds.
“The guards did a great job of getting the ball inside. They had terrific passes right over the top. I didn’t have to move; it just fell in my hands,” Brinton said.
Kuchar had 23 points and nine assists as FLC had 19 helpers against just eight turnovers. Erika Richards scored 18 points for the Skyhawks, while Christie Groh had seven points and seven rebounds to help FLC outrebound the Eagles 39-30.
The Skyhawks’ ability to get to the foul line in the second half was key, as well. The Skyhawks hit 15-of-22 from the charity stripe after intermission after going 7-of-7 in the first half.
The high-low game proved problematic for the Eagles, with Brinton the main beneficiary of several point-blank buckets.
Chadron State, meanwhile, rode a sterling performance from Kayli Rageth, who scored 20 of her 27 points in the first half to lift the Eagles to a 40-38 edge at the break. Shaw hit five 3s as part of a 19-point effort, and Kattie Ranta chipped in 19 more.
The 3-pointer was critical for the Eagles, too.
Chadron State hit 10-of-16 from distance, while the Skyhawks hit just 3-of-15.
“Them shooting almost 63 percent from 3. ... They played a great game. They really did,” Flores said of the Eagles. “I was nervous about it. I was telling anybody that would listen that this is a team that they just lost close games.”
FLC, however, responded with a 16-4 edge in fast-break points, and the Skyhawks’ bench outscored Chadron State’s 33-23.
The Skyhawks will hit the home floor again for another RMAC game when they host Black Hills State at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Whalen Gym.
rowens@durangoherald.com
