Fans went to Whalen Gymnasium on Saturday night ready to watch the greatest shot blocker in Fort Lewis College history play his final regular season home game.
Kaile Magazzeni grabbed the shot-blocking spotlight first.
Magazzeni, a senior forward on the FLC women’s basketball team, entered the final home game of her Skyhawks career eighth on the all-time blocked-shots list. She added to that total in a big way Saturday night with a career-high seven blocked shots to go with 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead FLC past Regis 54-48 in a pivotal Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest.
“It’s great to get all of these stats and stuff and have a double-double. It’s even better just to have the win,” Magazzeni said.
Magazzeni’s seven blocked shots matched a single-game FLC record, tying her with Melinda Balm, Stephanie Childers and Tracy Schenck. Balm and Childers accomplished the feat twice.
They also helped keep FLC’s (15-9, 12-8 RMAC) hopes of hosting a first-round RMAC Shootout game alive.
“That’s really cool. I didn’t know that,” Magazzeni said of the record. “There was definitely an extra focus for me (Saturday night). I really just wanted to go out with no regrets and have a good memory from my last game here at Fort Lewis. Well, potentially my last game.”
FLC needed every last Magazzeni block, rebound and point down the stretch. Bay’lee Purdy brought Regis (15-9, 11-9 RMAC) back into the game with a big 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 12 seconds to play. That made it 47-44.
But, with just more than 2 minutes to play, Magazzeni blocked her second 3-point attempt of the night, leading to Mary Brinton free throws on the other end. Regis never came closer.
The Skyhawks won the game with another strong defensive effort and free-throw shooting. FLC went 22-of-26 from the foul line and held Regis to 1-of-26 shooting from behind the 3-point line.
It was the third consecutive strong defensive game for the Skyhawks, as it came one night after they held Metro State to 49 points and a week after holding UC-Colorado Springs to 17 points below their season average.
“We defended so well. To hold Regis to 48 points, to hold Metro to 49, I mean all the credit to them,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said of his players. “We had a defensive gameplan, they took it in, focused on it, and that’s a great defensive effort both nights.
“We’ve beat three regionally ranked teams in a row. I know we’re right on the cusp of that. I think we’re rounding into a team that we’re going to be a tough out at some point.”
FLC only attempted four 3s of its own, making half of those.
Brinton and Kylie Santos both added 11 points for FLC.
“We were preaching not to settle and get to the rim, finish. We missed tons of layups as well, but we went to the line 26 times because we were aggressive,” Flores said.
Caresse Williams led Regis with 16 points, and Karlyn Johnson added 10. Purdy and Erica Von Stein combined to shoot 1-of-18 from 3, with both players attempting nine.
“We knew that they were really fast, and they had shooters and attackers,” said FLC guard Erin Curry, the only other senior honored Saturday night alongside Magazzeni. “We played personnel really well, I thought, and we knew what we were getting into before we went out there.”
FLC will complete the regular season on the road next week with games at Western State and Colorado Mesa. The weekend’s wins saw FLC jump from seventh to fifth in the RMAC standings, with the top four teams earning a first-round home game in the conference tournament. FLC is one game behind CSU-Pueblo for fourth. Western State is last in the RMAC standings, and Colorado Mesa is first.
“I think we can play with anybody. That’s nice to know going toward the end of the season,” Flores said. “We’re becoming a really good team. From where we started to where we’re at now, we’re better, more confident. I’m happy to see that progression and happy we can go into any game now and I’m thinking we’re going to win.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
