The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team didn’t trail for a single second on its road trip to New Mexico.
One night after thumping the Western New Mexico Mustangs, the Skyhawks continued their strong play with a 70-52 win at the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
“We played well two nights in a row. We took care of the ball, outrebounded them and played well defensively,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “It helped that we were more efficient scoring.”
FLC improved to 12-8 overall and 9-7 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Skyhawks now have swept both the New Mexico RMAC teams this season.
Mary Brinton, a junior forward from Pagosa Springs, caught fire in the second half for the Skyhawks, scoring a game-high 18 points on a 7-of-10 shooting night from the field. She did it all in 16 minutes of action.
“Mary made a concerted effort to take care of the ball, and she got her looks off good ball movement,” Flores said. “We didn’t just pound it in and hope for the best. We got the defense extended trying to catch up with what we were doing offensively, then we got the ball inside and scored at a great rate.”
Kaile Magazzeni added 10 points and eight rebounds, helping FLC win the rebounding margin 46-37. Skylyn Webb added 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
“We kind of got into a better rhythm this weekend. We’ve been trying to get the team to get into the rhythm of what makes us good, and that last two nights we’ve done that,” Flores said. “It’s paid dividends.”
Kate Bayes scored nine points for FLC, and Kylie Santos scored eight on 2-of-5 shooting from 3-point territory.
The Cowgirls (5-16, 4-13 RMAC) were led by Claudia Menses’ double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
FLC shot the ball well in a 41.9 percent showing from the field. The Skyhawks held the Cowgirls to 30 percent shooting.
The sweep in New Mexico is exactly what Flores had hoped for after a disappointing road loss at Adams State last weekend. FLC still is in the thick of the RMAC Shootout race, with eight teams making the season-ending conference tournament. The Skyhawks return home for two big games next weekend, with CSU-Pueblo visiting at 5:30 p.m. Friday and UC-Colorado Springs at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Both teams currently are in the top three in the RMAC standings, and only six games remain in the regular season.
“We put ourselves in a tough spot and needed to respond with a road sweep, and we did,” Flores said. “We have to be in playoff mode and have to have the intensity it takes to play in the postseason. We’re excited for the upcoming two weeks. We will hunker down and worry about Friday and go from there.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
