It’s hard to believe, after a 21-6 regular season, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team is on the road to start the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout. But, after finishing the season in a three-way tie with Regis and UC-Colorado Springs, that’s the way it happened, and the Skyhawks have no complaints.
“It’s unfortunate that we can’t play at home, but you’ve got to give the other teams credit because they took care of business,” Fort Lewis head coach Jason Flores said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Pueblo won the league by a couple of games, but the next four teams are really evenly matched. That’s just the way the league has been all year.”
As the No. 5 seed, Fort Lewis (21-6) beat the impending snowstorm and arrived in Denver Monday afternoon to prepare for its Tuesday matchup with No. 4 Regis (21-6). The two teams split their two matchups during the regular season as Fort Lewis won a Dec. 31 matchup in Denver, 58-49, and Regis returned the favor on Jan. 20 with a 79-74 road win at Whalen Gymnasium.
FLC’s Briana Clah and Kayla Herrera combined to score 38 of the team’s 58 points in the first meeting, and they’ve been a thorn in opponents’ sides all season. Clah leads FLC with an average of 14 points per game and Herrera is close behind with 12.9. Skyhawks sophomore Alyssa Yocky grabbed 13 rebounds in the first meeting. Yocky has seven double doubles on the season and averages 12.6 points and leads Fort Lewis with 9 rebounds per game.
“Rebounding is going to be the key for us,” Flores said. “Our lack of rebounding cost us the game the second time around. We can’t let that happen again if we want to win this time.”
The Rangers used a 40-26 rebounding edge and scored 48 second-half points to win the Jan. 20 meeting. Majestie Robinson’s 18 points led Regis, which had four players finish in double figures. Even after center Kaylie Rader was lost to an injury, the Rangers continued to dominate the glass en route to the five-point win.
Regis is seventh in the RMAC with a scoring average of 66.9 points per game. Mary Sigler’s 13.1 average leads the way and Robinson is close behind at 12.4. The Rangers’ defense is second in the league as they give up only 59.1 points per game, and they lead the league in rebounding margin with an astounding plus-9.8 advantage.
The Skyhawks’ defense has been ferocious in recent weeks and they sit right behind Regis in team defense at 59.3 per game. FLC is riding a five-game winning streak into the postseason and has given up average of 51.8 points in the hot stretch of play. The Skyhawks haven’t allowed 70 points against since Jan. 28 against Colorado Christian. Fort Lewis is peaking at the right time, and Flores sees no reason why his Skyhawks will stop now.
“It’s been gratifying to see this team come along the way it has,” he said. “All we can hope for as coaches is for the team to get better and better as the year goes on, and this team has certainly done that. This is just another challenge that has to be overcome.”
Tuesday’s RMAC Shootout opening-round matchup between Fort Lewis and Regis will tip at 5 p.m.
jfries@durangoherald.com
