After a close opening quarter, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team pulled away from South Dakota School of Mines to score a 77-67 win on Friday at FLC.
Alyssa Adams knocked down a three-pointer from the right corner in the first to give FLC a 12-10 lead and the Skyhawks never trailed again. Adams hit a running floater later in the first and Tayla Nez hit a pair of free throws to give FLC a 19-13 heading into the second. The Skyhawks then led 43-29 at halftime and 57-50 entering the fourth quarter.
“South Dakota Mines was well-prepared for us, but we made some adjustments in the second half, which led us to come out on top tonight,” head coach Taylor Harris told FLC Athletics. “We knew that we had to turn them over to create scoring opportunities and that ended up being crucial for us in the win.”
FLC got to .500 with the win and is now 6-6 overall and 3-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. South Dakota Mines slid to 1-12, 1-6.
The Skyhawks showed no fear while driving to the hoop on Friday. Kelsey Sorenson, Adams, Avery Evans and Sadie Misner all made aggressive moves to score in the paint.
Lanae Billy led FLC’s offense, knocking down a shot whenever the Hardrockers gave her an inch. Billy sunk five three-pointers in the game and finished with a career-high 24 points. One of her threes in second quarter gave FLC its biggest lead of the game, 42-26.
Evans also scored a career-high 15 points for the Skyhawks. She got the scoring going in the fourth by using a spin move to get around a Hardrocker and laying a shot in that helped FLC go back up by double digits.
Sorenson scored 13 points and also snagged 10 rebounds to earn her second double-double of the season.
Adams scored eight points and Misner added six. Samantha Wattawa scored five, including a corner three late in the third that put FLC up 52-42. Ember Cervantes hit a trey to finish with three points while Tayla Nez added two and Audra Vine one. FLC also had 15 steals in the game with Adams, Sorenson and Evans swiping three apiece. Kaitlyn Bell and Adams also had five rebounds each.
Piper Bauer kept FLC from pulling away any more by sinking six threes, including three in the fourth, and finished with a game-high 28 points. Madelyn Heiser added 13 for the Hardrockers.
The Skyhawks were also scheduled to host Black Hills State (9-3, 4-2) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 31). The game, however, ended up being postponed on Saturday.
