Forcing turnovers is nothing new for the Fort Lewis women’s basketball team. But a forced turnover as important as one by sophomore guard Lanae Billy is hard to come by.

Even with South Dakota Mines in the bonus, both Billy and junior guard Sadie Misner were aggressive with their swarming traps at the top of the 2-3 zone with 30 seconds left in overtime with the game tied at 73.

That aggression paid off as Billy forced a Hardrockers turnover and was fouled after. She sank both free throws and the Skyhawks won 77-73 in overtime on the road Friday night.

Fort Lewis improved to 8-4 overall and 5-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, despite only leading the game for 13 minutes and 41 seconds.

“In the end of regulation and in the end of overtime we had our run,” Fort Lewis coach Taylor Harris said. “We just had to survive their run, stay composed and stay positive and know that our time was coming and that's what happened.”

The Skyhawks shot 40% from the field and 27% from 3-point range. They also went 25 of 31 from the free-throw line.

Senior forward Kelsey Sorenson had her best game of the season with a season-high 23 points on 9 of 18 shooting overall. Sorenson also had a season-high 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

Billy had a slow start but came up clutch in the second half. She had 18 points on 4 of 10 shooting from the field, 2 of 5 from beyond the arc and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. All 18 of Billy’s points came in the second half.

“That's been the theme with her sometimes is it takes a half for her to get going especially when they're really aggressively faced guarding,” Harris said. “It's not like we really did anything schematically different. It was just all credit to Lanae for being patient and knowing they couldn't really face-guard her aggressively for 40 minutes.”

Junior guard Luisa Chavez also had a season-high 13 points off the bench on 3 of 6 shooting from the field, 2 of 4 from deep and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.

South Dakota Mines fell to 2-11 overall and 0-5 in the RMAC after shooting 41% from the field and 35% from the 3-point line.

Lauren Herman led the Hardrockers with 20 points on 4 of 12 shooting overall and 4 of 10 shooting from the 3-point line along with 8 of 8 from the free-throw line before fouling out. Piper Bauer also had 18 points in the loss.

The Hardrockers got off to a strong start and led 17-6 on 7 of 9 shooting from the field with 4:06 left in the first half.

Fort Lewis responded with a 7-0 run off some turnovers, cutting South Dakota Mines’ lead to 21-16 after the first quarter.

The Skyhawks took the lead off a Sorenson and-one play to put Fort Lewis up 26-25 with 5:40 to go. She ended up with 12 second-quarter points. South Dakota Mines led 33-31 at half.

“We knew they were face-guarding Lanae Billy the whole time,” Harris said. “We would put Lanae in a corner and have Kelsey drive with her left hand at the same corner Lanae was on to try to put them in a situation where if they want to stick to Lanae, Kelsey is going to get a layup and if they want to help on to Kelsey Lanae will get an open three and they chose to not let Lanae get catches.”

Despite Sorenson’s efforts, South Dakota Mines extended the lead in the third quarter with some work in the midrange in the middle of Fort Lewis’ 2-3 zone. A 7-0 run gave the Hardrockers a 40-31 lead.

But Chavez and junior guard Avery Evans were aggressive and got the Skyhawks back into the game. Chavez got to the line and Evans hit a big 3-pointer. Billy then hit a step-back 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Fort Lewis a 53-51 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

The final quarter was full of runs, with the Skyhawks leading 61-56 with four minutes to go. Then South Dakota Mines made its run and took the lead 62-61 with two minutes to go.

Sorenson came up clutch with a spin and score with 52 seconds left and a free-throw to put Fort Lewis up 66-65.

With Fort Lewis up 68-65, South Dakota Mines’ Madelyn Hesier hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 68 with seven seconds left, which sent the game into overtime as Sorenson failed to get a shot off on the other end.

Overtime was a close battle with each team within a possession of each other early on. Sorenson made a layup to put the Skyhawks up 73-72 with 1:42 left.

Wattawa fouled Hesier on a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock, but Hesier only made one of three to tie the game. Billy then had her key steal, Hesier missed a floater next possession and Misner sealed the game with free throws.

Fort Lewis plays at 4 p.m. Saturday at Black Hills State.

bkelly@durangoherald.com