March is here and that means one thing: Postseason basketball.
The Fort Lewis men’s basketball team is up at Colorado Mesa this weekend for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament. The Skyhawks beat Colorado School of Mines 87-73 in Friday’s semifinals and advanced to Saturday’s finals against the host Mavericks.
Fort Lewis compiled a regular season record of 25-3 overall and 20-2 in the RMAC, which was second-best in the conference.
Skyhawks women’s basketball coach Taylor Harris led his team to a 12-16 record in his third year at the helm and narrowly missed out on the RMAC tournament with a 9-13 conference record, which was ninth best in the RMAC.
With the regular season complete, it’s time to look at how both teams are statistically in key categories in the RMAC and compared to the rest of the country.
The following statistics are up to date as of Friday morning before the RMAC tournament semifinals.
Points Per Game
The Fort Lewis men’s team has used its size, athleticism, depth and up-tempo offense to average 86.2 points per game which is 23rd in Division II out of 286 schools.
In the RMAC, the Skyhawks rank second in points per game behind Colorado Mesa.
Junior guard Obi Agbim is 18th in the RMAC, averaging 14.7 points per game entering Friday.
The Fort Lewis women’s team finished the season averaging 65.8 points per game which is 130th in Division II out of 291 teams. The Skyhawks improved from last season, where they only averaged 61.5 points per game. However, Fort Lewis struggled to score down the stretch, which was a reason it didn’t make the RMAC tournament.
In the RMAC, this ranks seventh out of the 15 teams.
Sophomore guard Lanae Billy finished the season averaging 16 points per game, which was seventh best in the RMAC and 96th in Division II.
Senior forward Kelsey Sorenson finished her Skyhawks career averaging 12.2 points per game this season, which was 19th best in the RMAC.
Points Per Game Allowed
On the men’s side, Fort Lewis have allowed 72.5 points per game which was 104th best in Division II. Since the Skyhawks play at a faster pace, opposing teams get more possessions and therefore score more points.
The pressing man-to-man defense is ranked second in the RMAC as well in points per game allowed behind Colorado School of Mines.
After a strong start to the season, the women’s basketball team’s defense fell off a little bit. The Skyhawks finished their season allowing 66.7 points per game, which is 192nd in Division II and eighth in the RMAC. Entering January, Fort Lewis was only allowing 57.3 points per game.
The Skyhawks got killed on the boards in their 2-3 zone and didn’t cause as many turnovers in their trapping full-court press as they did early in the season. Fort Lewis did lose some players through the season to injury, which didn’t help things.
Field Goal Percentage
Shooting a high field goal percentage has been a strength of the Fort Lewis men’s basketball team all year. The Skyhawks shot 48.76% from the field, which is good for 26th in Division II. Fort Lewis has a great mix of perimeter play and high-level post play. The men’s squad has four players that shoot over 40% from 3-point range and four players that shoot 50% from the field.
This percentage is currently good for second in the RMAC.
On the women’s side, the Skyhawks finished the season shooting 37.5 % from the field, which was 14th in the RMAC and 229th in the country.
Fort Lewis just didn’t have enough offensive creators this season to be efficient. Billy was able to get to the free-throw line, but lived and died with her 3-point shooting. Sorenson struggled to finish at times and sophomore forward Kate Gallery struggled to be consistent.
3-Point Percentage
As previously mentioned, the Fort Lewis men have some great shooters so it’s no surprise to see them ranked 23rd in the country with a 38.35% mark from downtown. This percentage is also good for second in the RMAC.
Everyone on the men’s squad can step out and make a 3-pointer except for senior center Sekou Dembele. This versatility is what makes the Skyhawks so dangerous offensively.
The women’s team shot 28.45% from 3-point range which is 205th best in Division II and 13th in the RMAC.
Fort Lewis’ shot selection wasn’t terrible. It just didn’t have consistent shooters. The Skyhawks struggled inside with a depleted frontcourt to end the season, so shots behind the arc became more forced.
Rebounding Margin
After out-rebounding its opponents by 4.4 rebounds per game, the Fort Lewis men are third in the RMAC and 42nd in Division II in rebounding margin.
Dembele and junior forward Brayden Carter have had a size advantage against almost any frontcourt they’ve faced. The Skyhawks’ guards also rebound very well. Agbim and junior guard Jhei-R Jones have led the team in rebounding in numerous games this year.
The women really struggled to finish RMAC play with a small frontcourt. Fort Lewis was out-rebounded by an average of nine rebounds a game this season, which was 14th best in the RMAC and 279th out of 291 teams in Division II.
Things were made even harder because of the Skyhawks’ 2-3 zone defense, which is harder to rebound out of than man-to-man. In RMAC play only, the number worsened and Fort Lewis was out-rebounded by 11.9 boards per game.
Turnover Margin
With all of the experienced guards that the men’s team has, it’s no surprise the Skyhawks are the top team in the RMAC with a turnover margin of +5.2 turnovers per game which is also 10th in Division II. The press that the Skyhawks deploy for the whole game helps this number as well, but allows for some open 3-point looks for opponents.
Causing turnovers was arguably the biggest strength of the women’s team this season. Fort Lewis had the speed and athleticism to press and trap full-court for the entire game. As the season went along, the Skyhawks got better at taking care of the ball as well.
The women ranked 25th in Division II and third in the RMAC with a turnover margin of plus-4.27 per game. If the Skyhawks can improve on the boards, they will be a scary team with its turnover capabilities.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
