One quarter cost the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team Saturday in the season opener.
Playing against one of the top teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the Skyhawks stormed back from a 59-46 deficit after three quarters against Black Hills State to tie the game at 66-66 on a 3-pointer by Sydney Candelaria with 1 minute, 54 seconds to play in the fourth quarter Saturday inside Whalen Gymnasium on the FLC campus in Durango.
But the Skyhawks weren’t able to take a lead, as offensive rebounds by the Yellow Jackets led to too many second- and third-chance opportunities down the stretch. With 1:01 to play, Racquel Wientjes scored a layup for Black Hills State on a putback from her own miss. She was fouled on that second opportunity and would make a free throw.
FLC would tie the game once more on a 3-pointer from Alison Chanhthala with 45 seconds to play, but FLC would never touch the ball again on offense.
Another offensive rebound by Black Hills State’s Megan Engesser would give the Yellow Jackets the last shot of the game, and Alyssia Martinez would bury a 3 at the buzzer to give Black Hills State (1-1, 1-1 RMAC) a big 72-69 road win.
“We went down early, and credit to them switching up their defense on us and we had a hard time adapting to it,” FLC head coach Orlando Griego said. “Once we figured it out and our girls were able to find openings, we saw some shots go in and went on our run and slowly but surely chipped away at the lead and put ourselves in position to win the game.”
It was the first game for the FLC women after the first two games were postponed or suspended for COVID-19 reasons. With no exhibitions played, FLC was tasked with playing a top-five RMAC team.
“Credit to them, they won the game and were the better team tonight. For us, it was tough,” Griego said. “We have to figure out our rotations and figure out playing with referees and our shot selection. They were a good team coming in that was going to challenge us, but credit to our girls. I am proud of our team for fighting their butts off.”
FLC (0-1, 0-1 RMAC) was down as much as 17 in the game but outscored Black Hills State 23-13 in the fourth quarter. But it was 19 second-chance points for the Yellow Jackets off 10 offensive rebounds that would be the final difference. FLC had 14 second-chance points off eight of its own offensive rebounds.
“Offensive rebounds. We were getting defensive stops but not getting that defensive rebound,” Griego said. “We have them a couple opportunities to score the ball or have the last possession. We just have to be able to rebound the ball.”
FLC sophomore forward Jordan Vasquez scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. She also was 7-of-10 at the foul line. She had eight rebounds, four on each side of the floor, along with two assists and a blocked shot.
Bailey Osmer finished with 11 points for FLC behind 2-of-2 shooting from 3-point range. She added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Sydney Candelaria had a tough shooting night, going 2-of-10 from the field. She finished with eight points but added seven rebounds and four assists. Alyssa Adams had eight points and seven rebounds, too.
Chanhthala finished with eight points and six rebounds in her FLC debut, as she played 31 minutes.
Engesser scored 17 points to lead the Yellow Jackets. She added six rebounds. Wientjes had 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting. She had six rebounds. Morgan Ham also finished in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting. FLC shot a higher percentage overall from the field, but the Yellow Jackets made 11-of-25 from 3-point range compared to 8-of-21 for FLC.
FLC will play Western Colorado, which beat Black Hills State on Friday, at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“We are just happy to be playing with so much uncertainty,” Griego said. “The biggest thing for us is if we get a chance to go out there and compete, we are grateful for that opportunity. We are going to try to win every game, but the biggest thing is embracing the moment of being able to play.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
