Late offensive rebounds gave the Regis Rangers a chance to erase a 60-55 deficit. The player the Skyhawks didn’t want to see with a chance to take the final shot gave herself an opportunity to send Monday’s game to overtime.
But Tashika Burrell’s final 3-point try at the buzzer wouldn’t go down, and the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team held on to win a 60-57 game Monday afternoon at the Regis Fieldhouse in Denver.
“It’s a huge team victory,” FLC head coach Orlando Griego said. “Each player stepped on the court and contributed in this game in a big way. I am very proud of the team for sticking to our game plan and responding every time we needed to.”
Burrell matched FLC sophomore forward Jordan Vasquez for a game-high 20 points. Burrell grabbed her ninth rebound of the game with seconds remaining and would fire a 3 at the buzzer that was no good. She played 39 of the game’s 40 minutes and finished 7-of-16 shooting overall and was 5-of-7 at the foul line. But she shot only 1-of-8 from 3-point range with the final key miss.
“I thought our girls responded really well,” Regis assistant coach Katie Ziemnik said in a postgame interview. “We had off a few days. We only had two days to prepare for Fort Lewis, and I thought we were ready. It came down, of course, to one shot, and you can win or lose from that, and we’re going to learn from this game.
Vasquez’s 20 points came on 7-of-13 shooting and a 6-of-10 showing at the foul line. She added nine rebounds, with three of those on the offensive end of the floor. The 20-point performance gave Vasquez 20 or more points in six of the seven games the Skyhawks (3-4, 3-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) have played this season.
Both teams entered the game after long periods of time off the floor. Regis (2-4, 2-3 RMAC), which had not played a game since Jan. 4, had three consecutive postponements before Monday’s contest, which was rescheduled from December because of COVID-19 issues. FLC had two postponements leading into Monday and hadn’t played since a 51-50 home win 10 days earlier against Colorado Christian.
“I am proud of the team for being able to respond,” Griego said. “We were supposed to play a game Saturday at Chadron State, and that didn’t happen. We were able to schedule a game with Regis and made it happen. My team wants to play. They work hard and are a solid group. They want to get after it, and I am right there with them.”
It was a game of runs in the first half. FLC fought back after an 8-0 Regis run with an 8-0 run of its own to lead 12-10 after one quarter.
After a 7-0 FLC run early in the second quarter, the Rangers finished the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 26-24 lead into the break.
That run extended to 18-2 going into the third quarter before Vasquez got FLC back within 32-27 with a traditional three-point play converted at the free-throw line after she was fouled as she made a layup.
Bailey Osmer caught fire for the Skyhawks at a key time in the third quarter. She scored seven of her 14 points for FLC in the third and tied the game at 41-41 with a big 3-pointer with 2:11 to go in the frame. Osmer added five rebounds and three steals.
“Bailey has really responded coming off the Christmas break, and she is keeping it simple,” Griego said. “She is finding her places to attack. We know (Vasquez) is going to draw double teams a lot and draw that attention. For Bailey to recognize that and look to attack puts us in better position.”
It was a 3-pointer from Chloe Warrington to start the quarter that tied it again at 45-45 before freshman Ally Harvey scored her only basket of the game to give the Skyhawks a 47-45 lead. FLC would not trail again the rest of the game.
Vasquez stretched the FLC lead to 50-46. Back-to-back layups from Osmer, with the second coming off of her own steal, gave the Skyhawks a 54-50 lead with 3:53 to play.
Burrell got it back to within one point with a three-point play of her own to get her to the 20-point mark with 3:37 to play. But her missed 3 the next time down was rebounded by FLC senior point guard Katrina Chandler, who had eight rebounds in the game, and led to Vasquez’s final basket to make it 57-53.
An Osmer offensive rebound proved critical in the game’s final 90 seconds, as it led to a basket from Alyssa Adams that had the Skyhawks in front 59-55.
Those timely steals and offensive rebounds helped FLC overcome a tough night at the foul line, as the Skyhawks shot just 10-of-20. Regis wasn’t much better at 12-of-20.
FLC did lose the rebounding battle 48-40, including 18-10 on the offensive glass. But the Skyhawks did better with second-chance opportunities with 15 points compared to 16 for Regis.
The Skyhawks’ bench proved large in the win, as it outscored the Rangers’ bench 26-5. All of the bench scoring game from Adams, Osmer and Warrington.
“Sydney Candelaria came in and was a defensive stopper for us defending at a high level all game,” Griego said. “(Chandler) did well, and her stats don’t show it but she had rebounds and was stealing the ball. Alison Chanhthala didn’t shoot it well but really defended well and challenged shots. There are so many things our girls did tonight to grind and be scrappy to win this game.”
FLC kept Regis forward Whitney Jacob largely in check, though she did have a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists and two steals. But she was just 4-of-17 shooting, including 0-of-4 from 3-point range.
“We matched her intensity and made it hard on her,” Griego said. “Our girls stuck to that defensive game plan, and we really rotated a lot of girls on her.”
With two wins in a row, the Skyhawks will hope for some schedule consistency this week with another weekend road trip Friday and Saturday to Colorado State University-Pueblo (2-3, 2-3 RMAC) and Adams State University (1-4, 1-4 RMAC), respectively.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
