Fort Lewis had one of its most balanced efforts of the season with only seven players getting significant minutes. On the second night of a back-to-back with five players finishing with four or more fouls, the Skyhawks prevailed with clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch to beat Colorado Christian University 70-64.
The Skyhawks improved to 10-7 overall and 7-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after it shot 40% from the field and 41% from 3-point range.
Sophomore guard Lanae Billy led the Skyhawks in scoring Saturday afternoon inside Whalen Gymnasium with 17 points on 5-12 shooting from the field and 5-9 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Senior forward Kelsey Sorenson had 13 points on 4-10 shooting from the field and 5-10 shooting from the free-throw line along with seven rebounds. Junior forward Samantha Wattawa had 10 points and 11 rebounds while junior guards Sadie Misner and Avery Evans chipped in 12 and 10 points.
“It was a really exciting game,” Fort Lewis associate head coach Kylie Lorenzen said. “The closer team at the end won. That was a big goal for us before the game. We knew how CCU played and how they can be. We just really wanted to stay together, stay focused and have each other’s backs and that’s what happened.”
Colorado Christian fell to 10-7 overall and 6-5 in the RMAC after it shot 30% from the field and 18% from the 3-point line in the loss.
Maggie Hutka led the Cougars with 20 points on 7-16 shooting from the field and 6-11 shooting from the free-throw line along with nine rebounds.
“We’re really focused on our defense,” Lorenzen said. “We take pride in our defense, it’s chaos and it’s really fun. We take pride when we get those turnovers and get other teams frustrated. We thrive off the chaos when we create it. We stay defensively focused because we know our offense will come to us.”
The first quarter had a fast pace and was the opposite of yesterday’s first quarter. Fort Lewis was finding the stroke from beyond the arc in the first quarter to keep it in the game with Colorado Christian’s presence inside. The game was tied at 17 after the first quarter.
Fort Lewis went inside to start the second quarter with sophomore forward Kate Gallery, Sorenson and Wattawa making baskets inside against the imposing Colorado Christian’s forwards.
The Skyhawks raced out to a 26-19 lead to start the second but back-to-back 3-pointers cut the Fort Lewis lead to 28-25.
Colorado Christian’s Maggie Phipps hit a midrange jumper and Hutka hit a contested midrange jumper to tie the game at 32 with 1:40 left. But Colorado Christian was over-aggressive on rebounds and fouled Sorenson numerous times and she pushed the lead to 36-32 at the free-throw line while the Skyhawks were in the bonus.
Fort Lewis led 39-35 at half.
Both teams struggled to finish in the middle of the third quarter but a Billy 3-pointer pushed the Skyhawks lead to 48-40 with 3:13 left in the third.
But Colorado Christian responded with four straight points before Billy responded with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer to push the lead to 51-44 with 1:30 left in the third quarter. Both teams were in the bonus for a good amount of the third quarter which led to a foul shooting contest. Two Misner free throws with seven seconds left led to a 56-48 lead after three quarters.
Fouls continued to occur at the start of the fourth and Sorenson picked up her fifth foul with 8:35 left. Sloppy offense led to a lack of scoring before Evans had a reverse layup off a baseline drive to push the lead to 59-50 with 5:39 left. Colorado Christian used its size inside to cut the lead to 59-54 with 3:56 left.
Sorenson has fouled out in four games this year and has had at least four fouls in 11 out of the 12 games she has played.
“It’s frustrating being a player that everybody goes against and says go at her or she’ll foul you,” Lorenzen said about Sorenson. “I’d say keep your hands up, move your feet instead of trying to take the charge because the refs don’t usually call it in her favor. Her not getting frustrated is important because she does contribute a lot for us overall.”
A short bench looked to have exhausted the Skyhawks at the end of the game. Colorado Christian got inside and to the free-throw line and cut the Fort Lewis lead to 61-58 But Wattawa got to the free-throw line on a pass from Evans off an offensive rebound. She pushed the lead to 63-58 and then made two more after a rebounding foul to push the lead to 65-59 with 1:02 left.
“A lot of our energy comes off one another,” Evans said. “We are a family, essentially. We inspire one another to play and that’s where our energy comes from off a back-to-back weekend.”
Fort Lewis continued to hit free throws to keep its lead at five in the last minute. Misner and Wattawa made clutch free throws to seal the win at the end of the fourth.
The Skyhawks are on the road on Friday to face Colorado Mesa University.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
