Playing and traveling in the same day didn’t hamper the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team in its regular-season opener.

The Skyhawks flew out of Albuquerque on Friday morning after Durango’s airport issues Thursday forced them to migrate south. They beat the University of Dallas 56-53 on Friday evening in Irving, Texas.

“It wasn’t the best, ideal travel situation, but I don’t think I can blame it on that,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “Our energy was OK. Had we just put our foot on the gas when we got up 20, I would have felt a lot better about things.”

FLC (1-0) led 49-39 with five minutes remaining in regulation and held off a Lady Crusaders’ rally to win by three.

“We completely let our foot off the gas,” Flores said. “That’s something that we need to learn from. If we are a good team, we need to learn that if we get up by that amount, we need to put people away.”

Flores took some of the blame for the comeback. He played 12 players in the game, still trying to mix and match lineups early in the season, which may or not have led to some of the Skyhawks’ continuity issues.

FLC junior Mary Brinton, a Pagosa Springs High School alumna, led the Skyhawks with 16 points, and Kate Bayes joined her in double digits with 10. Freshman Dallas Dickerson, from Anchorage, Alaska, scored nine points in her FLC debut.

Playing against a zone defense early when FLC doesn’t play a lot of zone teams led to 23 turnovers, which helped Dallas (0-1) claw back into the game. Putting the Lady Crusaders on the free throw line 37 times also did not help the Skyhawks’ cause.

“Typically, if you’re on the road, and the other team’s on the free throw line 37 times, those are points you’re just giving them,” Flores said. “They gained a lot of momentum and confidence from that.”

FLC will play St. Edward’s at 5 p.m. Saturday in Austin, Texas.

“Can’t be mad at a road win,” Flores said. “(Saturday’s) a good region game against a good team on their home court.”

heraldsports@ durangoherald.com