Coming off a double-overtime victory in Friday night’s game against South Dakota Mines, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team had very little time to recover before facing the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Rocky Division leader at Black Hills State.
The Skyhawks fought back after a slow start but couldn’t close the deal in the end, as Black Hills State (17-4, 14-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) converted from the foul line down the stretch to hang on and win 74-71. Dallas Dickerson led the Skyhawks with 18 points off the bench. Astrea Reed scored 12 points and Kate Bayes added 11 in the loss.
“Obviously, nobody likes to look up and see a loss, but this is one that we’re not hanging our heads about,” Fort Lewis head coach Jason Flores said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It was a really well-played basketball game, and the girls gave everything they had left. As a coach, I can’t be disappointed after the effort they gave (Saturday).”
Fort Lewis trailed for most of the game, by double digits at times but continued to fight back every time it looked as though the Yellow Jackets were about to run away with the win. Kylie Santos’ 3-pointer late in the third quarter gave FLC its first lead, and the Skyhawks hung around until the final possession.
The Yellow Jackets did what they needed to do at the foul line by going 5-for-6 in the final minute. With just more than one second left, FLC had to go the length of the court and make a 3 to tie. Bayes’ heave from under her own basket was deflected, and time ran out on the pesky Skyhawks.
“It was one of those games where one possession could have changed the outcome,” Flores said.
It didn’t look that way at the beginning.
Fort Lewis (13-9, 9-8 RMAC) got off to a sluggish start and trailed 11-1 through the first few minutes. The Skyhawks could have packed it in early having every excuse to take a night off. After a 16-hour drive, Friday’s game went into double-overtime and it was only a matter of hours until they were due to tip again.
Instead of letting it get out of hand, the Skyhawks woke up in time. They outscored Black Hills State 16-8 for the remainder of the quarter to climb right back in and trailed by just two after the first 10 minutes.
Dickerson’s 11 points led a Skyhawks bench that scored 25 of the team’s 31 first-half points, but the Skyhawks trailed by six at the half.
Tied at 51 heading into the final quarter, Santos struck again with a 3 that gave the Skyhawks another lead.
After a series of Skyhawks turnovers, the Yellow Jackets’ Bailey Kusser made back-to-back 3-pointers to give Black Hills State a six point lead with five minutes left to play. The Skyhawks needed one more comeback in the final minutes of a long road-trip, and they nearly pulled it off.
Bayes’ layup and a free throw made it a one-possession game once again, but the tired bunch ran out of time.
Taylor Trohkimoinen led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points, and Kusser added 12 in the win.
“We’re physically tired, but this is something we can build off of,” Flores said. “We’re back home next week, and we need a couple of wins.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
