The top two defensive teams in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women’s basketball will roll into Fort Lewis College in Durango this weekend. The host Skyhawks are no slouch on the defensive end, either.
FLC (7-8, 3-6 RMAC) will welcome the Western Colorado University Mountaineers (10-3, 6-3 RMAC) at 5:30 p.m. Friday and the 23rd-ranked Colorado Mesa University Mavericks (12-1, 9-0 RMAC) at the same time Saturday. It’s a chance for the Skyhawks to get back into the RMAC picture. FLC is 12th in the conference standings, and only the top-eight teams make the RMAC tournament to play for an automatic bid into the South Central regional tournament. FLC is only two games back of eighth place with 13 conference games to play.
“It’s a tough weekend for us but an exciting weekend for us,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “We have the third- and first-place teams coming in. It’s a huge challenge for us. We also have the role right now where we have to play spoiler. Our charge every game is we have to get better and better. That’s all we’re focused on right now until we get to a level where we’re consistent.”
FLC ranks fourth in team defense, as it has allowed opponents only 58.6 points per game. Colorado Mesa and Western are a bit better, as the Mavericks allow an RMAC-low 51.4 points, while Western is second at 53.6 points per game. They have held opponents to an identical 34.3 shooting percentage, while FLC is third behind them at 36.1 percent.
“We have to play well defensively, but the problem with these two teams is that their both good offenses, as well,” Flores said. “They both have multiple weapons.”
The Mountaineers have been a strong 3-point shooting team at 37.3 percent, but FLC has held opponents to only 27.5 percent shooting from long range. FLC has struggled greatly shooting 3s at 29.5 percent and likely won’t test Western and Mesa’s potent perimeter defense.
Samantha Coleman leads the Mountaineers at 12.1 points per game, and Katie Dalton has chipped in 10.4 per contest. Forward Tammarrah Gothard leads the RMAC with three blocked shots per game.
The RMAC’s leading scorer, Jaylyn Duran, will visit Saturday with the Mavericks. She has averaged 22.2 points per game behind 50 made 3-pointers. What makes the Mavericks a special team is the play of guard Sydni Brandon, who played her freshman season at FLC before she transferred back to Mesa in her hometown of Grand Junction. Brandon’s hustle is evident in her seven rebounds per game from the point guard position. She has also averaged 5.2 points and 4.5 assists per game to go with an RMAC-best 3.7 assist to turnover ratio.
“Duran, she can get on streaks of shooting that are really dangerous,” Flores said. “They run a lot of sets for her to get a 3, so you have to kind of decide how you want to guard her, and you can’t do it the same the whole game. Making things hard on her is a big key for our team.”
Durango High alumna Katrina Chandler will return to her hometown this weekend with the Mavericks. The sophomore guard has played in 12 games and has averaged 11.2 minutes per game off the bench. She has averaged four points per game.
Fort Lewis’ offense is led by senior forward Alyssa Yocky’s 11.9 points per game. Yocky also ranks third in the RMAC with 8.3 rebounds and fourth with two blocked shots per game. Junior guard Kayla Herrera found her rhythm last weekend and is up to 11.3 points per game while doing a bit of everything on the floor. After a hot start, sophomore forward Jordan Carter has struggled in the new year and is down to 10.5 points per game. FLC needs to get her going along with sophomore guard Sydney Candelaria, a streaky shooter who has averaged another 10.5 points per game.
“Scoring in the paint for us is two-fold,” Flores said. “Our posts know they have to be more aggressive. They were kind of taking the easy route the last few weeks and weren’t drawing fouls. But part of points in the paint is that our guards have to get to the rim. We’ve gone a little stagnant, too much on the perimeter, and our points in the paint have to come from the guards and posts and work inside out that way.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
