Led by double-digit outings from a trio of newcomers, the Skyhawks women's basketball team captured its first win of the season over Western New Mexico University, 66-57, on Saturday. With the win, Fort Lewis closes out the RMAC/Lone Star Conference Challenge with a 1-1 record.
“I'm happy with the whole team effort tonight,” said FLC head coach Taylor Harris. “We made a big emphasis on coming closer together tonight, and we did just that.”
Freshman Lanae Billy led all players with 17 points to go along with four rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Avery Evans followed with 13 points and four steals. Senior Kaitlyn Bell rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Skyhawks at 12 points and six rebounds. Senior Kelsey Sorenson contributed nine points and a team-best seven rebounds in 17 minutes of play.
“We saw a big game from Avery (Evans) and Kaitlyn (Bell), and overall I'm proud of our entire team's effort,” Harris said. “We were resilient against a tough and well-coached team that had a great game plan for us. I'm proud of how we stuck together.”
After early back-and-forth defense, Sorenson cut WNMU’s lead to 6-3 from the free-throw line with six minutes on the clock. Evans and Billy combined for a pair of scores to pull the Skyhawks within one at 8-7. Later, a free throw from Misner gave Fort Lewis a 9-8 edge. The quarter ended with the teams even, 12-12.
Evans tied it again, 14-14, on a layup one minute into the second quarter. Sophomore Sadie Misner then scored four to give FLC a 19-15 advantage. The Skyhawks extended the lead to nine points on a pair of jumpers by Bell. Later, back-to-back threes from senior Brooke McGee and Evans put Fort Lewis ahead 29-17. FLC led 29-19 heading into the break.
The Mustangs opened the second half with a quick three and scored on their following possession, but Billy knocked down a corner three to build FLC’s lead back to eight points. After a corner three for the Mustangs cut the lead to four points, Sorenson responded with two points to bring the score to 38-32. Billy scored the final points of the third quarter to make it 46-40.
The Skyhawks jumped out on a 12-1 scoring run in the fourth to take a 17-point advantage. WNMU made eight from the charity stripe to pull within seven. The late pressure, however, was wiped away by another Evans’ layup as the Skyhawks held on for q 66-57 win.
Fort Lewis shot 40% (22-of-55) from the field compared to 36.4% (16-of-44) for WNMU. Both teams dropped in five shots from beyond the arc and combined for 37 free throws. The Skyhawks benefited from 18 steals – most since a 20-steal outing versus Northern New Mexico in 2019.
Fort Lewis (1-1) will make its home debut at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Northern New Mexico University. The game will be the Nike N7 game, honoring Native American Heritage Month inside of Whalen Gymnasium.
“We are excited for our first home game on Friday where we get to celebrate our amazing Native American student-athletes, Ember Cervantes, Tayla Nez, and Lanae Billy,” Harris said. “It's going to be an amazing experience for us.”
