Despite a strong second-half effort, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team dropped a 75-69 contest to Metro State University Denver Friday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
FLC redshirt senior Sydney Candelaria stole the show from the jump, totaling a career-high 33 points (14-of-29 FG) despite finding herself under pressure for the majority of her 40 minutes of action. Redshirt junior Alyssa Adams and freshman Piper Terry each chipped in nine points. Candelaria was the leading rebounder with eight, followed by a seven-rebound performance from redshirt freshman Jana Conejero.
The Roadrunners were the first to strike, dropping in an inbound jumper for the early advantage. Defense dominated the following possessions, forcing a Fort Lewis timeout with the team trailing 5-0 after three minutes of play. The troubles continued as turnovers and fouls allowed for a 9-0 Roadrunner lead.
It was redshirt sophomore Kelsey Sorenson who got the Skyhawks on the board, driving in a layup to bring things to 9-2 with just over four minutes remaining in the opener. MSU Denver added to the lead, taking advantage of offensive boards en route to a 16-4 lead with 2:41 to go. Redshirt junior Brooke McGee got in on the scoring action, converting a no-look feed from Adams to shift the score to 18-11 as time expired.
The teams traded points to begin the second quarter, but the Skyhawks couldn’t find scoring momentum to cut into the deficit. Candelaria continued going to her bread and butter when the team needed her, dropping in her ninth point of the night on a driving layup for a 29-17 score. It would be Candelaria again, this time halting a 5-0 MSU Denver scoring run to send the score to 37-19 with 3:30 remaining in the half.
Terry hit the team’s first shot from beyond the arc, followed by another Candelaria bucket to see the score at 39-24. After the brief scoring surge, Fort Lewis benefited from free throw shooting to send the teams into the break with a 44-30 score.
Candelaria led all players with 16 points through two quarters of play. MSU Denver was 5-of-9 from three compared to a 1-of-7 mark for Fort Lewis. MSU Denver shot 53% from the field versus 40% for Fort Lewis. The teams combined for 18 turnovers.
MSU Denver delivered another three to kick off the second half, but the Skyhawks continued to drive to the rim to keep the lead in check. Adams found success from long range, bringing the score to 52-39 with just under six minutes remaining in the third. Candelaria remained stout on the offensive end, dropping in a fast break and free throw to see the Skyhawks down by 10 points. Fort Lewis pulled within nine points after a three-pointer from McGee sailed through the rim for a 58-49 score with 3:16 to go.
The Roadrunners responded with a three of their own, followed by a layup to send the teams into a timeout at 63-49. Conejero got the Skyhawks going out of the timeout with a deep three to bring it to 63-52. Candelaria attempted a three at the buzzer, but the shot didn’t fall as the score held at 63-52 heading into the final quarter. Fort Lewis outscored MSU Denver 22-19 in the third quarter, benefiting from a trio of threes to push the efficiency to 30.8% for the night.
Long-range was the name of the game to kick off the fourth quarter, and Candelaria’s 27th point of the night brought the score to 63-55 with under eight minutes to play. MSU Denver built the lead back to 11 points with five minutes to play. MSU then padded its lead by a pair with a put-back layup, and the defense of the home squad held the Skyhawks scoreless going into the final three minutes. Adams connected on a free throw to push the score to 68-57 with the clock dwindling to two minutes.
Another midrange jumper from Candelaria cut the lead to single digits with Harris calling a quick timeout as the clock sat at 1:43. The Roadrunners committed a turnover out of a second timeout, resulting in a clutch three from Terry to narrow the lead to just six points. From there, both teams lit it up offensively and traded a handful of shots to bring it to 72-67 with 40 seconds remaining. A quick layup from Terry moved the score to 73-69 with 8.6 seconds to go, bringing on another timeout for the Skyhawks to formulate a defensive game plan. The Skyhawks quickly fouled a Roadrunner out of the break, but both shots fell as the clock expired on a 75-69 final score.
Fort Lewis (2-12, 1-7 RMAC) is back in action tomorrow for a 5 p.m. contest versus Colorado Christian University (5-6, 2-3 RMAC). The Skyhawks are looking to sweep the series against the Cougars after clinching a 67-66 thriller at home on Dec. 11.
MSU Denver improved to 7-4 on the year and 3-3 in conference play.
The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball game against MSU Denver, originally scheduled to follow the women’s game, has been postponed in accordance with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference COVID-19 protocols.
The men’s game scheduled Saturday at Colorado Christian University has also been postponed due to COVID.
Makeup dates for the games have not yet been scheduled, but will be announced by the conference at a later time.
The FLC men will be back in action Friday when the Skyhawks host Chadron State College for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
