Four home games remain in the regular season for the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball season. They couldn’t get any bigger.
How the Skyhawks (13-5, 9-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) perform in those four games will greatly determine if FLC will get a chance to host a first-round game in the eight-team conference tournament. It all starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday against Dixie State University (13-6, 8-5 RMAC) followed by a matchup at the same time Saturday against No. 21 Westminster College (16-3, 11-2 RMAC).
“This is huge. We want to be in the mix as one of those top-tier teams,” FLC head coach Orlando Griego said. “We want to put our stamp on the RMAC and let everyone know we can compete at a high level. That’s our focus.”
FLC will face the same two teams in a Utah road trip over Valentine’s weekend. Getting the two at home would be a massive boost for a Skyhawks team that will also host No. 25 Colorado Mesa (16-3, 12-1 RMAC) and Western Colorado (12-5, 10-3 RMAC) in the final homestand of the regular season Feb. 21-22.
The Skyhawks are currently fourth in the conference standings with a tiebreaker ahead of Colorado School of Mines (12-6, 9-4 RMAC). Friday night’s game against Dixie State will be for fourth place in the conference. FLC will be happy to play at home inside Whalen Gymnasium, where the Skyhawks are 11-1 this season.
“The biggest thing is that we have to take it one game at a time,” Griego said. “That’s been the motto all week. It’s a great opportunity for us two games in a row. But we have to take care of business Friday and then everything will work itself out for Saturday.”
Friday night’s game promises to be a high-energy contest. Both teams have averaged more than 67 points per game this season. The Dixie State Trailblazers have allowed 60.8 points per game to opponents, though, while FLC has allowed 58.1.
“We have to play good defense this weekend,” Griego said. “Dixie runs a lot of backdoor sets. We really have to focus hard on playing team defense.”
Dixie State is led by Ali Franks at 13.8 points per game. Madi Loftus has scored 12.1 per game and has shot 36.6% from 3-point range. London Pavlica is a strong all-around presence with team highs of 6.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
Westminster also has scored in bunches this season led by Mariah Martin’s 16.4 points per game, which is fifth in the RMAC. She has shot 43.4% from the field and also has 3.9 assists per game. Hunter Krebs is one of the stars of the conference. She has scored 15.7 points per game on 60% shooting. She is also third in the RMAC with 1.2 blocked shots per game.
Adding to the Krebs-Martin punch is Sarah McGinley, who has scored 14 points per game and is eighth in the conference with 6.7 rebounds per game. She also ranks third in the RMAC in 3-point percentage at 47.7%. Katilin Toluono has given the Griffins 8.1 rebounds per game.
It will be a tough post matchup for FLC forwards Jordan Carter and Jordan Vasquez this weekend, but Griego likes his team’s chances.
“Our post players have worked so hard every week, preseason, in the weight room,” Griego said. “At some point, they will get their own mismatches inside, and our guards will be able to expose that and get them the ball and let them score it.”
Carter, a junior, has led FLC in scoring at 11.1 points per game, and she has added 6.5 rebounds. She has accomplished her scoring while shooting 51.8% from the field, which is the second-best mark in the RMAC.
Vasquez, a freshman, has scored 10.3 points per contest on 51.1% shooting and has a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. Junior point guard Katrina Chandler also has 10.5 points per game on 48.1% shooting. She also has the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the RMAC, and her 3.4 assists per game are in the top 10 in the conference. Junior guard Sydney Candelaria has given FLC 8.9 points per game and has scored some of the team’s biggest baskets.
Though it is Snowdown week in Durango, Griego hopes the home crowd comes out to support his team during a pivotal weekend.
“Durango is a special place with all the things that happen throughout the week during Snowdown,” he said. “We need the fans to continue supporting us and give us good energy. We have two really high-caliber teams going at it Friday and Saturday night. It will be fun entertainment and good basketball, and it’s a huge opportunity for our team.”
jlivingston@ durangoherald.com
RMAC
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Women’s Basketball
Note: WBCA ranking in parentheses
TEAM OVERALL RMAC
Colorado Mesa (25) 16-3 12-1
Westminster (21) 16-3 11-2
Western Colorado 12-5 10-3
Fort Lewis 13-5 9-4
Colorado Mines 12-6 9-4
Dixie State 13-6 8-5
Black Hills State 11-7 8-5
Metro State-Denver 8-11 7-6
S.D. Mines 8-9 6-7
Colorado Christian 6-13 6-7
Regis 7-12 5-8
CSU-Pueblo 5-13 4-9
Chadron State 5-17 3-10
UCCS 4-15 3-10
Adams State 3-16 3-10
New Mexico Highlands 1-17 0-13
