Fort Lewis women’s basketball had its best offensive performance of the season Saturday afternoon at home, finishing with a season-high 67 points in a 67-57 win over Northern New Mexico.
After watching one quarter, it seemed destined that FLC would have a terrific offensive performance after shooting 56% and leading 23-4.
But consistency was hard to come by after that. FLC’s offensive struggles reared their ugly head and defensive coverages lapsed, allowing Northern New Mexico to catch fire from 3-point range and get back into the game.
FLC’s saving grace was its 3-point shooting down the stretch. The Skyhawks hit 3-6 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the Eagles at bay.
“I’m super happy we played so well in the first quarter,” FLC head coach Lauren Zuniga said. “People were making their shots and we were executing everything properly. The second, third and fourth quarters weren’t as good for us. Thank God we did have such a great start; we were ready to go and I don’t have any answer for you about the second, third and fourth.”
FLC improved to 2-3 overall after it shot 46% from the field, 44% from 3-point range and 71% from the free-throw line in the win.
Northern New Mexico fell to 2-4 overall after it shot 39% from the field, 45% from 3-point range and 100% from the free-throw line.
Senior forward Darla Hernandez led the Skyhawks with 14 points on 6-12 from the field, 2-3 from the free-throw line and a team-high 11 rebounds. Junior forward Kate Gallery came off the bench and finished with 11 points on 4-11 shooting from the field and 3-7 from the 3-point line
“She’s finally gaining some confidence,” Zuniga said about Gallery. “It’s stuff we’ve been working on with her in practice. She just needed to see one go through the net.”
Northern New Mexico was led by Dalys McGuinnis’ 20 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, 4-6 from downtown and 4-4 from the charity stripe.
FLC forced 33 Eagles turnovers while the Skyhawks coughed up the ball 27 times compared to only 15 assists.
The Skyhawks got off to a 14-2 lead with four minutes left in the first thanks to some good outside shooting from sophomore guard Trista Hoobler, senior guard Livia Knapp and Gallery. The Skyhawks were active defensively and forced some tough shots. Freshman guard Katie Lamb was especially active on defense, intercepting multiple passes and taking the ball in transition.
Gallery was active on both sides of the ball with extended minutes with junior forward Sydney Bevington’s departure from the team. She was finding herself open from behind the arc and shot it well. A swish from 3-point range from Gallery and a putback by Lamb gave FLC a 23-4 lead over Northern New Mexico after the first quarter.
“Different people are finding what shots are good for them and what shots they can hit,” Zuniga said. “It’s definitely something we’ve been talking about in practice. We’re finally having confidence in those looks so I’m super proud of that.”
The Eagles started to hit their outside shots and weren’t as sloppy with the ball in the second quarter. Freshman Claudia Palacio Gámez got out in transition and finished inside to put FLC up 37-19 at halftime.
Northern New Mexico started the second half on a 6-0 run thanks to some nice buckets inside. FLC struggled on offense. It wasn’t getting the open 3-pointers it had in the first half and wasn’t getting much production inside either.
The Eagles started hitting their 3-pointer off good ball movement. The Skyhawks’ defense wasn’t as active and Northern New Mexico got wide-open looks. A 3-pointer by McGuinnis made it 41-35 with 2:20 to go.
Zuniga said the team got complacent on offense and defense during this stretch. She said her team lost track of the scouting report on Northern New Mexico and went under ball screens at times when they should’ve gone over them.
FLC finished well thanks to Palacio Gámez’s two 3-pointers to finish the third quarter up 47-35.
Northern New Mexico continued to find gaps in the Skyhawks’ defense and either drove for layups or drove and kicked out for 3-pointers to start the fourth.
The Skyhawks’ defense improved at the end of the fourth quarter and looked more like their defense in the first quarter. FLC was active in passing lanes and got some transition buckets. The Skyhawks also started hitting 3-pointers again. Gallery hit a corner trey to go up 61-47 with 3:20 to go.
FLC stays at home to play UT Tyler on Friday at 3 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
