Multiple chances were given to the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team to win its season opener, but it wasn’t to be.
The Skyhawks went on the road to Portales, New Mexico, and faced Western New Mexico in the first of two games at the Lone Star Conference/ Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Challenge. FLC led 59-56 with 23 seconds to go, but Paulina Rodriguez drilled a 3-pointer from deep with 9 seconds to play in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Kayla Herrera’s last-second 3-pointer didn’t fall for the Skyhawks, and the teams played into overtime.
FLC again had several chances to win in the extra five minutes. The Skyhawks led 65-61 with 2:38 to play in overtime, but Cassandra Vickery and Rodriguez hit a couple more 3s, and Rodriguez’s big shot gave Western New Mexico the lead for good at 69-68 with 12 seconds to play. The Mustangs (1-0) would go on to win 70-68 and send the new-look Skyhawks (0-1) to a tough season-opening loss.
“How many times can we have a chance to close the game? We had taken away the 3 pretty well, but inexperience kind of kicked in,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “This team is going to be a good team. How quickly can we get there? We’re teaching a lot early, and it’s a matter of being disciplined. We didn’t switch out when we were supposed to switch out. We knew what to do, we didn’t execute it. Credit (Rodriguez), she hit a deep shot to tie it in the fourth.”
FLC still had a chance in overtime. Herrera missed a layup when it was 69-68. Jordan Carter got a rebound but couldn’t make the putback attempt. Western New Mexico made one more free throw and missed the second with 3 seconds to let the clock run out.
The foul line haunted FLC multiple times. The Skyhawks shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the line, while the Mustangs were 23-of-32.
“We could’ve iced it many times. We kept going 50 percent instead of putting the game away,” Flores said.
FLC raced out to a 15-3 lead in the first half and went up 35-28 at halftime behind 13 points from Alyssa Yocky and 12 from Sydney Candelaria. Yocky finished with 19 points and four rebounds, but Candelaria was held scoreless in the second half, largely because of foul trouble.
“We needed everyone to close better,” Flores said. “We needed Sydney in the game. She’s gone from being a freshman off the bench to being a starter this year, and we needed her more than 19 minutes. We needed her for 28 minutes today. It’s a learning curve for a lot of our players. They’re really capable, and we hope that those same mistakes don’t happen again. It’s a tough lesson, but it’s a lesson.”
Cassandra Vickery led the Mustangs with 14 points, while Rodriguez finished with 13 and Fields had 11. FLC was outrebounded 44-33.
FLC wasn’t able to take advantage of 29 Mustang turnovers, as the Skyhawks turned those into only 22 points. FLC also had only three second-chance points in the game despite 11 offensive rebounds.
Herrera finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, though she turned the ball over five times and went 4-of-8 from the foul line and 5-of-17 shooting from the field.
Carter added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Skyhawks.
FLC will turn around and play the tournament host, Eastern New Mexico, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We had a lot of momentum swings in this game,” Flores said. “It’s a game we need to learn to win. We will come back tomorrow night against the home team and see how much we can progress into that. It’s about hoe quickly we can be where we want to get to. That’s the trick for us.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
