The Pink Game inside Whalen Gymnasium was a success for the Fort Lewis women’s basketball team, as the Skyhawks snapped a four-game skid.
Fort Lewis scored 75 points for the first time since Jan. 5 and beat Western Colorado 75-66 on Saturday night.
Fort Lewis improved to 12-12 overall and 9-9 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after it shooting 43% from the field, 35% from 3-point range and 79% from the free-throw line.
“We dealt with a lot of adversity in the game,” Skyhawks coach Taylor Harris said. “Whether it was not making a shot in the third quarter or their run in the third quarter making some 3-pointers. We handled that adversity well, so I’m really proud of our team.
Every player who played more than 10 minutes scored at least eight points. Sophomore guard Lanae Billy led the Skyhawks with 23 points on 7 of 14 shooting from the field, 3 of 6 shooting from 3-point range and 6 of 8 shooting from the free-throw line.
After a few tough shooting games, sophomore forward Kate Gallery bounced back with 13 points on 4 of 9 shooting from the field, 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line.
Junior guard Avery Evans had 12 points and junior forward Samantha Wattawa had 10 points as well. Fort Lewis had 12 assists on 23 made field goals. Junior guard Sadie Misner had six of those assists.
“We had 12 assists on 23 made baskets which is really high for us,” Harris said. “Assisting on nearly half of our baskets is really good for us because we also had a lot of one-on-one takes at the rim and points off turnovers. We were really unselfish tonight and it showed.”
Harris was also happy with how his team got to the free-throw line. The Skyhawks’ 29 free-throw attempts are the most in a game since Jan. 20. Fort Lewis especially needed those trips to the free-throw line in the third quarter when it went 0 of 9 from the field but 13 of 14 from the free-throw line.
A career milestone was passed Saturday, as senior forward Kelsey Sorenson grabbed her 1,000th career rebound.
Fort Lewis raced out to a 20-10 lead after the first quarter and extended that lead to 40-25 at halftime. Shooting struggles hit in the third and Fort Lewis only led 53-45 after the third quarter.
Western Colorado fell to 6-17 overall and 4-14 in the RMAC after shooting 38% from the field and the 3-point line, as well as 94% from the charity stripe.
Ivey Schmidt led Western Colorado with 17 points on 5 of 14 shooting from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Erika Lane had 16 points as well.
The Skyhawks will host Black Hills State at 5 p.m. next Friday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
