The seesaw tilted the Skyhawks on top at the end of an up-and-down game with Western State on Saturday in Gunnison.
The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team led by as many as 10 points in the first half before trailing by nine at halftime and eventually winning the game 78-66.
“We didn’t guard as well as we could have, just had to shore it up in the second half,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said.
FLC (6-3, 3-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) held the Mountaineers to 26 points in the second half while scoring 47 itself.
The Skyhawks built an early lead with a 10-0 run near the middle of the first half, then proceeded to fall behind by as many as 11 at the beginning of the second.
Ashley Kuchar led the team with 22 points, while Erika Richards and Christie Groh also reached double figures with 16 and 13, respectively.
Richards made a 3-pointer with 10 minutes, 7 seconds left in the game to retake the lead.
FLC extended its lead to six with five minutes left and made free throws in crunch time to seal the win.
“We had an advantage inside and went to it, got a lot of fouls from there,” Flores said.
The Skyhawks made 15 more free throws than Western State (4-7, 4-2 RMAC) and outshot the Mountaineers from the line 76.9 to 62.5 percent.
Desiree Smith paced the Mountaineers with 17 points.
The Skyhawks bounced back from a 24-point loss to No. 5 Colorado Mesa the night before in Grand Junction.
FLC will return home for winter break before a home game against Chadron State on Jan. 3 at Whalen Gym.
“It was important for us to get those two out of three, especially at Western because they were a game up on us in the conference standings,” Flores said. “It was just being able to stick in the race and get better as soon as we get back (from break).”
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