Fort Lewis College had an awful shooting night. Somehow, Adams State University shot even worse but found a way to beat the Skyhawks.
FLC’s women’s basketball team fell 65-63 Saturday night in the opening game of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule. The Skyhawks (3-3, 0-1 RMAC) shot only 33.3 percent from the field and made only 9-of-19 free throws in the loss at Adams State in Alamosa.
The Grizzlies (1-2, 1-0 RMAC) won despite shooting only 27.3 percent from the field, but Adams State did damage at the foul line with a 24-of-31 performance. Adams State also outrebounded Fort Lewis 56-48.
“I’m so disappointed in our team,” said FLC head coach Jason Flores. “We had taken a few steps forward with some good games and we just took a giant step backwards. That’s unacceptable.
“Yeah, you’re on the road in a tough place to play, not getting calls. But we didn’t rebound, and then we fouled. We didn’t have any toughness tonight, and they just wanted it more than we did, and I can’t stomach that. That’s a measure of our program that we can’t allow to happen.”
The FLC bench was outscored 29-10 in the loss. Jordan Carter led the Skyhawks with 17 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting. Alyssa Yocky had 11 points and 11 rebounds but battled foul trouble and had to be subbed in and out down the stretch with four fouls. Sydney Candelaria was also in foul trouble. She made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish with 13 points. She made 3-of-5 from 3 but was only 4-of-16 from the field. Kayla Herrera added 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block, but she made only 4-of-18 shots from the field and 2-of-5 from the foul line, as her early-season shooting woes continued.
“She’s too good. She’ll be fine,” Flores said of Herrera. “She cares a lot. It’s almost like she’s pressing. I’m not worried about her. She’s proven to be better than that, and we hope that comes around.”
Stephanie Ruiz scored a game-high 22 points for Adams State, though she was only 8-of-23 shooting. She also had eight rebounds. Ki’asha Harris had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who are led by first-year head coach Jaime Green.
“Coach Green is a good coach,” Flores said. “I’ve known her from long ago, and her teams just want it. At home, the first conference game, it boiled down to that. They won every 50-50 ball all night.”
Adams State had a 49-42 lead late in the third quarter, but the Skyhawks cut it down to 51-47 before the end of the quarter. The Adams lead grew to 61-52 with 3:48 to go. A pair of free throws from Yocky got FLC within 61-56 with 1:08 to go, and a Herrera 3-pointer made it 61-59 with 20.9 seconds to play. Fort Lewis got a steal thanks to its pressure defense, but Herrera went only 1-of-2 at the foul line and couldn’t tie the game.
With 10.5 seconds to go, Ruiz made a pair of free throws to give Adams State a 63-60 lead. Herrera missed a 3 out of a timeout, and Marshell Hollins made two free throws for the Grizzlies to ice the game before Candelaria’s last-heave 3.
Flores said his team missed easy shots and had no business being in the game late.
“I guarantee we missed at least eight layups,” Flores said. “We’re talking layups at the rim. We have to finish those easy, easy shots. I don’t know how we were within three points, to be honest. I really don’t. There’s no way we should have been in position to win the game. It was fool’s gold.”
FLC will return home for practice before going back on the road to face New Mexico Highlands at Colorado State University-Pueblo on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
