Fort Lewis College has a brand new women’s basketball roster this year, and it showed in the team’s first exhibition against a Division I adversary.
FLC went on the road to face the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The Skyhawks fell 101-48 at The Pit.
“We got hurt by their three athletic guards that pushed the tempo,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said in a message to The Durango Herald. “We fouled a lot, and they shot five times as many free throws as we did.”
Briana Clah led FLC with 16 points, while Kaitlyn Romero scored nine off the bench. Jordan Carer led the team with six rebounds. FLC settled for too many jump shots and shot 7-of-20 from behind the 3-point line and only 22.7 percent from the field.
FLC senior guard Astrea Reed, last year’s leading scorer, was expected to lead a young team replacing talented seniors and four other players who left the team in the offseason. But Reed didn’t play Tuesday and might take a red shirt this season to preserve another season of eligibility.
“It’s hard not having your senior and best returning player,” Flores said. “We played a lot of young kids. They played hard, but we kept everything limited with a week and half still to go before our opener.”
Flores said his team relied too heavily on jump shots and needs to learn to drive the lane more. His team will open the regular season at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 against Texas-Permian Basin in Portales, New Mexico.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
