What a difference a night makes in the gauntlet that is the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule.
One night after giving up 83 points to UC-Colorado Springs, Fort Lewis’ defense allowed single digits in the first and third quarters en route to a 63-55 home win against Metro State on Saturday inside Whalen Gymnasium.
Astrea Reed led the Skyhawks in scoring for the second consecutive night with 14 points and dished out five assists. Kate Bayes finished with 10 points, and Alyssa Yocky had a great night off the bench with 10 points and six rebounds.
“We knew coming in that we wanted to win this one getting back to what makes us really good,” said Fort Lewis head coach Jason Flores. “We win games when we give a good defensive effort and move the ball around on offense.”
The defensive effort Saturday was key in the bounce-back win.
Trailing by one point coming out of the locker room at the half, Fort Lewis held the Roadrunners scoreless for the first 5 minutes, 24 seconds of the half and went on a 15-2 run to take a double-digit lead and take command of the game.
Metro State was held to nine points in the first and third quarters while managing to make only 37 percent from the field for the game.
Unlike Friday night, the Skyhawks were ready from the opening tip. Crisp ball movement and solid defense turned into an early 6-0 lead.
One night after trying to contain the RMAC’s top scorer, UC-Colorado Springs’ Brittany Hernandez, Skyhawks interior presence Mary Rambo was responsible for Metro State’s Hannah Stipanovich.
The Metro State sophomore was held scoreless in the first quarter, but with Rambo on the bench with two first-half fouls, Stipanovich came alive.
The Roadrunners grabbed their first lead with four minutes remaining in the first half behind Stipanovich’s seven second-quarter points.
The Skyhawks (8-4, 4-3 RMAC) came out for the second half with defense in mind, and their effort at that end paid dividends.
The pressure on defense spurred confidence at the offensive end and the result was a 15-2 Fort Lewis run to begin the second half.
With Rambo on the bench in foul trouble, it was Yocky who came in and played quality minutes down low at both ends of the floor.
Yocky was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and did a fine job containing Stipanovich, who finished the game with 15 points.
“It feels good to get in there and step up when my team needs me,” Yocky said. “Mary is a great player, and I just want to match her intensity when I’m in there.”
With the lead and some confidence, the Skyhawks stretched the lead and took a 10-point advantage into the final quarter after outscoring Metro State 20-9 in the third.
Metro State (6-7, 4-3 RMAC) had one last run in them and made it interesting down the stretch with a 12-2 fourth quarter run that cut the Fort Lewis lead to three. The Roadrunners used a full-court press that frazzled the Skyhawks and forced numerous turnovers that allowed the visitors back in the game.
“Their press didn’t catch us off guard, it just took awhile to find the open spots,” Reed said.
When they did find the open spots, the lead was secured once again. They scored the next seven points to push the lead back to double digits, and the Roadrunners had no time left to respond.
“We didn’t have to make a ton of adjustments, we just needed to get back to doing what we do,” Flores said. “We wanted to stick to the game plan a little bit better than we did (Friday) and we did.”
FLC will hit the road next weekend to face Colorado Christian and Colorado Mines for the second time this season.
jfries@durangoherald.com
