Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team had to fight through more than just another tough Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent Saturday at Colorado Christian.
The Skyhawks were scheduled with a rare 1 p.m. league matchup in Lakewood, which can alone be enough to shake up a team’s rhythm. On top of the awkward start time, several Skyhawks, including head coach Jason Flores, were battling a nasty flu bug that had been circulating the locker room all week. But, FLC showed its toughness and ability to respond to adversity once again as they conquered the elements and defeated Colorado Christian 86-76.
Alyssa Yocky recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Briana Clah led all scorers with 23 points and Kayla Herrera pitched in 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
“We take pride in our toughness and the girls showed it again (Saturday),” a hoarse Flores said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Our locker room was like a pharmacy with all the cold medicine going around. But, hey, there are no excuses and we don’t just say that – this group really believes it.”
It was clear early on that the Skyhawks (15-5, 10-5 RMAC) were intent on pounding the ball inside, and, Fort Lewis’ bigs went to work from the opening tip. The guards fed the ball into the post early and often which led to a 7-2 start for FLC as Yocky and company drew three fouls on opponents in the first 2 minutes, 22 seconds.
The first few minutes opened things up on the perimeter and Clah took advantage of the opponents’ added focus on the interior. The sharp-shooting guard was 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the opening half, which led to a seven-point FLC lead at one point before the Cougars cut the gap with some hot shooting of their own.
The teams combined to make 10 3-pointers in the first half, but the Skyhawks claimed a 42-38 advantage at the break, and wasted no time in extending the lead in the third quarter.
Just like they did to open the game, FLC go off to a 7-2 start to the second half and never looked back. Though the Cougars (8-12, 6-9 RMAC) cut the deficit to four late in the third quarter, a 24-point final frame behind inside-outside dominance of Clah, Herrera and Yocky squashed any late comeback hopes.
Fort Lewis is currently one game out of the fourth spot in the RMAC standings. The top four teams host the opening round of the RMAC Shootout.
“We still have a good chunk of the season left, but this is a great start to this home stretch,” Flores said. “We’ve got to hit the road again next week, so we’ll need to get healthy and get some rest before locking in on our next opponents.”
Haley Shaner had 23 points to lead Colorado Christian. Shelby Patterosn pitched in 10 points for Fort Lewis on a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. Kelsey Wainright was very effective off the bench for the Skyhawks with eight points.
Next up for Fort Lewis is a 5 p.m. matchup Friday at New Mexico Highlands before heading to play the undefeated juggernaut, fourth-ranked CSU-Pueblo at 5 p.m. Saturday.
jfries@durangoherald.com
