Fort Lewis College came out with stifling defense that forced nine consecutive turnovers during a six-minute stretch in the first quarter. That effort carried over to the rest of the game in a blowout of Colorado Christian University.
The FLC women (17-4, 11-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) were a well-oiled machine Saturday afternoon in a 74-43 home win at Whalen Gymnasium. Alyssa Yocky provided a big spark off the bench in the first quarter to get FLC’s offense to match its defensive effort, and the Skyhawks quickly built a double-digit lead at 21-6 after one quarter.
“Defensively, we knew we could hold them to a lower number and percentage,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “Everyone was doing their job. Their posts that like to shoot got maybe one or two good looks the whole game. Then we were forcing them to try to do other things that aren’t in their character of what they wanted to do. That was big.”
Yocky, who is still working her way back from offseason ankle surgery, had perhaps her best game since coming back midseason. She finished with 13 points, five steals, four rebounds and an assist in only 18 minutes of action. She was 5-of-8 shooting from the field and perfect on two free throw attempts.
“She was a good spark for us,” Flores said.
During Colorado Christian’s run of nine consecutive turnovers, the team got off only one shot attempt. The stretch included two shot-clock violations without an attempt. The Cougars (6-13, 4-10 RMAC) turned the ball over 27 times in the game, and those led to 25 Fort Lewis points.
Kayla Herrera found a rhythm offensively for FLC, as she finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long range. Vivian Gray finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
“It was a great win,” Herrera said. “We’ve been doing well on defense, recovering and helping. We have each other’s back on the court, and we’re really meshing together.”
Astrea Reed finished with a game-high 16 points for FLC. She added four assists and a steal. No CCU player finished in double-digit scoring, as Sarah McGinley led the team with nine points and eight rebounds.
Shelby Patterson played a strong game, as she continued to see more minutes with starting senior Briana Clah sidelined by an ankle injury. Patterson got fouled hard twice but got up each time and continued to contribute gritty play. She finished with four points, four rebounds and three assists and was a force defensively.
“I just want to bring energy,” Patterson said. “Whenever we pass each other the ball, we work well together and get the points we need to. Coach said before the game that it needed to be a defensive game to fuel the offense, and we did that.”
CCU was held to 12 made field goals on 48 attempts, good for a 25 percent showing from the field. CCU made only 1-of-14 shots from 3.
Next up for FLC is a key home stand with New Mexico Highlands set to visit Friday before an RMAC showdown against CSU-Pueblo on Saturday. Pueblo beat the Skyhawks earlier this year and have a one-game lead for first place in the conference.
“It’s big,” Flores said of the Pueblo game. “We get to be the hunters now. We gotta take care of business Friday to get to that game, but it will be a great environment, a fun game to play and coach in.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
