The incredible defensive performance that led the Fort Lewis women’s basketball team to victory Friday against Western State carried into the matchup Saturday against a much better Colorado Mesa squad.
The Skyhawks (18-6, 13-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) held the Mavericks to 27-percent shooting and held one of the league’s premiere scorers, Bryanna Adams, to four points en route to a 77-60 home win.
Briana Clah led the Skyhawks with 22 points, and she pulled down eight rebounds and dished out four assists. Kayla Herrera also filled up the stat sheet at both ends of the floor with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven steals.
“I didn’t even have to say anything to them before the game because I could see that there wasn’t much that needed to be said,” Fort Lewis head coach Jason Flores said. “Just like last night, the girls were locked in.”
It was clear Fort Lewis had a bad taste in its mouth after dropping the first meeting with the Mavericks 58-54 earlier in the season. The Skyhawks came out flying this time, and Clah controlled the throttle. The sharpshooting guard was 4-for-4 from behind the 3-point line in the first half, and her 15 points paved the way for a 40-26 halftime lead.
“I wasn’t trying to force anything, just trying to take what they were giving me,” Clah said.
Even with an intermission to try and straighten things out, the Mavericks (17-6, 14-5 RMAC) had no answer for the Skyhawks defense. Instead, the FLC lead slowly swelled to 20-plus points.
“I couldn’t wait to play this game,” Herrera said. “Especially after the way we lost to them last time. I think we all wanted this one pretty badly.”
The ferocious defense combined with a 28-for-33 performance from the foul line and a rebounding edge of 46-32 made it impossible for the visitors to make the run they needed to get back into it.
“They’re a really good team,” Yocky said. “I felt like we were the better team the first time, and I feel like we made the statement we wanted to make this time.”
The win put FLC one game behind Colorado Mesa for third place in the standings. FLC is only two games back of second place UC-Colorado Springs with three games to play in the regular season.
The Skyhawks will look to make it three in a row at 5:30 p.m. Friday against Colorado Mines.
jfries@durangoherald.com
