Fort Lewis head coach Taylor Harris sarcastically called the Skyhawks’ first quarter an offensive spectacle.
The Skyhawks couldn’t ball in the hoop if their life depended on it in the first 10 minutes. Outside shots, inside shots, contested shots, open shots, you name it, it wasn’t going in. Fort Lewis shot 1-19 from the field in the first quarter. The referees were letting the women play and Chadron State took advantage and scrapped its way to a 11-4 lead after the first quarter.
But sophomore guard Lanae Billy caught fire from beyond the arc in the second quarter, hit four 3-pointers in that quarter and pushed Fort Lewis past Chadron State 71-58 Friday night inside Whalen Gymnasium.
“I was really proud of our group for a game where the object is to put the ball in the basket and we shot a really low percentage in the first quarter,” Harris said. “How we responded to that, Sam (Wattawa) really talked about it at halftime, was amazing. That’s just the growth of this team over the years. We brushed it off in a positive way and that allowed us to bounce back in the second quarter.”
Fort Lewis improved to 9-7 overall and 6-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after shooting 33% from the field, 28% from 3-point range and 75% from the free-throw line.
Billy led the Skyhawks with 28 points on 9-21 shooting from the field and 6-15 shooting from 3-point range in the win. The 28 points tied a season-high she set at Black Hills State on Jan. 6.
“I think Lanae is the best player in the league,” Harris said. “When she is in the groove and in the zone there’s not many shooters in the country better than her.”
Senior forward Kelsey Sorenson had 13 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and 5-7 shooting from the charity stripe in only 10 minutes due to foul trouble.
Chadron State fell to 5-10 overall and 3-7 in the RMAC after it shot 39% from the field and 33% from 3-point range in the loss along with 26 turnovers.
Camren Morris and Awoti Akoi each scored 10 points to lead the Eagles.
The Skyhawks got off to a 4-0 start with seven minutes left in the first with a Gallery 3-pointer in a physical first few minutes where Chadron State struggled to find good looks.
But Chadron State responded with two buckets inside to tie the game at four with six minutes left.
Chadron State increased its lead to 9-4 with a 3-pointer from Kadyn Comer. Fort Lewis didn’t get any favors from the referees when the Skyhawks went to the basket. The lack of calls looked like it got Fort Lewis out of rhythm on offense.
Comer hit another outside shot to push the Chadron State lead to 11-4 at the end of the first quarter.
“I thought the officials had a really balanced first half as far as the fouls go,” Harris said. “But sometimes we go to the basket wanting to get fouled instead of forcing the foul. That was the big difference in the first quarter and we really changed that.”
At the end of the shot clock, Sadie Misner hit one of her best shots of the season, a step-back 3-pointer, to open up the second quarter and cut the Chadron State lead to 11-7 with 9:30 left.
Two 3-pointers by Billy tied the game at 14 with 7:40 left in the second quarter. If she was in NBA Jam she’d be on fire with her third 3-pointer of the quarter to put the Skyhawks up 17-14 with six minutes left in the second.
Another Billy 3-pointer gave the Skyhawks a 23-16 lead with 3:30 left. Fort Lewis looked a lot more poised on offense and Chadron State was giving Billy too much space to fire.
“It instills confidence in everybody when Lanae is playing her game and doing what she does best,” Sorenson said. “It encourages everyone else to go out there and not care about making mistakes. That’s a huge part of Lanae’s role.”
The Skyhawks continued to be aggressive at the end of the second after Chadron State put them in the bonus early. Two free throws by junior guard Avery Evans gave Fort Lewis a 27-18 lead and Fort Lewis took a 27-20 lead into the halftime break.
Sorenson started off the third quarter with an aggressive take to the basket and score and Gallery extended Fort Lewis’ lead to 32-20 with a corner 3-pointer with nine minutes left.
A Sorensen baseline drive got the crowd to their feet as the ball rolled around the rim and dropped after the foul was called. Sorenson sunk the free throw to push the Fort Lewis lead to 43-29 with 5:20 left.
Evans threw a beautiful bounce pass through traffic to freshman guard Trista Hoobler for a layup before Billy hit another 3-pointer to push the lead to 53-38. Fort Lewis took a 55-40 lead into the fourth quarter.
Another quarter, another old-fashioned 3-point play to start. Billy cut through the lane and finished with her left hand and made the free-throw to push the Fort Lewis lead to 58-40 with 9:15 left.
The Skyhawks maintained an 18 to 20-point lead throughout the middle of the fourth with some timely layups off drives and putbacks.
Fort Lewis plays on Saturday at home at 4 p.m. against Colorado Christian University.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
