A mass exodus of players, including seniors and underclassmen, from the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team left the Skyhawks feeling a sense of unknown going into this season.
Three games into the schedule, some questions have been answered by a 3-0 start. A team with more offensive talent and head coach Jason Flores’ signature defensive toughness is learning as it goes, but the going has been good so far.
“Going in, we still had high expectations for them, but it was the unknown,” said FLC fifth-year head coach Jason Flores. “We didn’t have a guard on the floor who had played in a game together, and half of them didn’t even have a college game before.”
The season started with a blowout loss in an exhibition against Division I New Mexico. That was an eye-opener for the young players who quickly realized they were playing as individuals and not as a team.
The play carried over in the first half against Texas-Permian Basin to open the regular season last weekend. FLC trailed 28-19 at the break but rallied to win 56-50.
“It was a big wakeup call to us,” said redshirt freshman Kayla Herrera of Santa Fe. “We played as individuals just like we did at UNM. The second half, our offense started clicking together. If we play like a team we will win, but if we play as individuals it will hurt us.”
Herrera is one of three redshirt freshman on the team this year to go with five true freshman, one sophomore in talented forward Alyssa Yocky and four juniors. With last year’s leading scorer Astrea Reed taking a redshirt and missing what would’ve been hurt senior season, forward Ande Lampert is the lone FLC senior who will play this year.
Flores and Reed made the decision to give her a redshirt season the day before the UNM exhibition. Reed will return next year and get the chance to play with Vivian Gray, a prized recruit ranked No. 26 in the nation. Gray selected FLC over elite Division I schools to be able to play with her sister Olivia Gray, a freshman on this year’s roster.
“Not having Astrea on the court, that rattled s in the beginning,” Flores said. “That’s someone you’re leaning on for experience as an all-conference player. But the confidence in the team has risen, and individual players are stepping up to fill roles.”
Though only a sophomore, Yocky provides experience and leadership Flores will rely on. The 6-foot forward came on strong down the stretch last year, as FLC upset top-seeded Colorado Mines in the first round of the RMAC Tournament. The Skyhawks went on to upset UC-Colorado Springs before falling to CSU-Pueblo in the tournament championship game.
Flores turned to Yocky at halftime of the Texas-Permian Basin game and told her she needed to lead the team.
“We need her to play good,” Flores said. “We wouldn’t have won this weekend if she didn’t. It’s a lot of pressure on a sophomore’s shoulders, but it’s true because she has the ability and experience. Her and Ande calm the waters for us.”
That’s not a responsibility Yocky is shying away from.
“Even though we’re young, we’re really talented,” she said. “We’ve matured a bit just on these last three road games. We’ve come together, and it doesn’t look like we’re young. We can be great this year.”
Across the board, this is a better offensive team than last year’s. FLC has more consistent shooters in players such as Briana Clah, Kaitlyn Romero and Herrera. The forward Lampert and Yocky are also good shooters, as is Natalie Stilwell, who Flores said has a great mid-range game.
“There are times on the floor where we have four or five good shooters,” Flores said. “We have multiple people hitting shots, and that wasn’t the case last year.”
FLC will open its home schedule at 5:30 p.m. Saturday against Northern New Mexico. After that, it’s on to conference play, with CSU-Pueblo and UCCS again expected to be the class of the league. But the Skyhawks believe they can contend this year.
“We’re going to surprise people,” Clah said.
It could be easy for FLC fans to look ahead to next year with such a strong recruiting class coming in. But Flores said the team’s focus is on being great now before adding those pieces.
“This isn’t a throw-away season,” he said. “Our players are excited because they know what we have coming. If you want to be part of a really good team, you can’t be selfish or looking over your shoulder. It’s no secret what we have coming in, because our players have been in camp with Vivian. They’re more excited than anything else.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
