A couple of promising offensive rebounds followed by layups had Fort Lewis College out to a quick 4-0 lead. The positive feeling quickly escaped the Skyhawks, though.
The Black Hills State women’s basketball team answered the early 4-0 deficit with a 13-0 run that extended to 20-1 before the Skyhawks could find a couple of baskets. That 20-5 deficit proved to be too much for FLC to claw back from despite getting as close as three in the fourth quarter, as the Skyhawks lost 74-66 to fall for the first time in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game this season.
“Credit to our girls, we fought back twice from 20 points down,” FLC head coach Orlando Griego said. “Our girls never quit and continued working hard. They weathered the storm. We dug ourselves into a hole, but credit the girls for putting us in position to win the game.”
The loss snapped a six-game win streak for the Skyhawks (7-2, 3-1 RMAC), which split the initial road trip of the season after a strong win Friday night at South Dakota School of Mines.
Free throws and 3-point shooting were the story Saturday night in Spearfish, South Dakota. The Yellow Jackets (6-4, 3-2 RMAC) made 22-of-24 free throws compared to 10-of-19 for FLC. Black Hills also made 10 shots from 3-point range, though it attempted 30. FLC shot 6-of-12 from 3.
“It’s tough that we missed that many free throws,” Griego said. “When we’re on the road, if we can eliminate turnovers and make free throws, we are putting ourselves in position to win. We didn’t do good enough taking care of the ball and putting in free throws.”
Morgan Ham led Black Hills with 18 points. Racquel Wientjes shot only 3-of-13 but made all six of her free throws to finish with 13 points. Off the bench, Danica Kocer scored 16 points, as she shot 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3. Abby Switzer had a double-double of 10 points ad 10 rebounds.
FLC received a team-high 13 points and 11 rebounds from Jordan Vasquez, who continued her domination on the offensive glass with seven offensive rebounds. Sydney Candelaria had 12 points, while Jordan Carter finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds to give two FLC forwards double-doubles.
“They’re aggressiveness was great,” Griego said of his two forwards. “Second half, they wanted to control the boards and dominate in the paint. I felt like (Black Hills) was going small, and we wanted to pound it into the post and get chances for putbacks. We did a good job crashing the boards.”
FLC would get back within 20-13 in the first quarter thanks to an 8-0 run late in the first quarter, but the deficit going to the second would be 23-13. The Yellow Jackets were fueled by seven first-quarter points from Ham as well as a pair of 3-pointers from Kocer.
The Skyhawks would get within five points a couple times in the second quarter, but big shots from Kocer and Wientjes kept FLC from getting any closer. Black Hills quickly stretched its 42-31 halftime lead to 55-39 in the opening six minutes of the third quarter. The lead would be 60-49 going to the fourth quarter.
FLC wouldn’t go away and continued to pester the home team in the fourth quarter, though. Vasquez continued a strong game and got to 12 points when she cut the Black Hills lead down to 62-56 with 6:29 to go. A minute later, Chloe Warrington made a 3-pointer, one of three she made in the game, to get the Skyhawks within three points at 62-59. But Kocer would answer right back with a 3 of her own to push the lead to 65-59. FLC would get as close as four points several times but never got any closer, as Switzer and Ashlee Beacom closed out the game from the foul line. Beacom finished with eight points.
They Skyhawks will return home for three consecutive games with only more in 2020 at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against Adams State before the holiday break.
“Our girls have worked hard to this point. We are going to continue to push them and get better,” Griego said. “It will be exciting to get home, play in front of our home crowd and really get up and down. We will prepare for Adams State and see what we can do on Saturday.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
